Association between atrial fibrillation and Helicobacter pylori

C Tetta, AI Moula, F Matteucci, O Parise… - Clinical Research in …, 2019 - Springer
C Tetta, AI Moula, F Matteucci, O Parise, B Maesen, D Johnson, M La Meir, S Gelsomino
Clinical Research in Cardiology, 2019Springer
The connection between atrial fibrillation (AF) and H. pylori (HP) infection is still matter of
debate. We performed a systematic review and metanalysis of studies reporting the
association between AF and HF. A systematic review of all available reports in literature of
the incidence of HP infection in AF and comparing this incidence with subjects without AF
were analysed. Risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) and risk difference with standard
error (SE) were the main statistics indexes. Six retrospective studies including a total of 2921 …
Abstract
The connection between atrial fibrillation (AF) and H. pylori (HP) infection is still matter of debate. We performed a systematic review and metanalysis of studies reporting the association between AF and HF. A systematic review of all available reports in literature of the incidence of HP infection in AF and comparing this incidence with subjects without AF were analysed. Risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) and risk difference with standard error (SE) were the main statistics indexes. Six retrospective studies including a total of 2921 were included at the end of the selection process. Nine hundred-fifty-six patients (32.7%) were in AF, whereas 1965 (67.3%) were in normal sinus rhythm (NSR). Overall, 335 of 956 patients with AF were HP positive (35%), whereas 621 were HP negative (65%). In addition, 643 of 1965 NSR patients (32.7%) were HP positive while 1,322 were negative (67.3%; Chi-square 2.15, p = 0.21). The Cumulative Risk Ratio for AF patients for developing an HP infection was 1.19 (95% CI 1.08–1.41). In addition, a small difference risk towards AF was found (0.11 [SE = 0.04]). Moreover, neither RR nor risk difference were influenced by the geographic area at meta-regression analysis. Finally, there was a weak correlation between AF and HP (coefficient = 0.04 [95% CI −0.01–0.08]). We failed to find any significant correlation between H. pylori infection and AF and, based on our data, it seems unlikely than HP can be considered a risk factor for AF. Further larger research is warranted.
Springer