Clinical risk factors for new-onset atrial fibrillation in acute myocardial infarction A systematic review and meta-analysis

New-onset atrial fibrillation (NOAF) remains common arrhythmia in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and is closely associated with increased subsequent cardiovascular mortality. Our meta-analysis aims to summarize more clinical risk factors for NOAF. Comprehensive systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were carried out to find relevant studies inception to December 2017. Pooled mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the value of clinical risk factors in the prediction of NOAF after AMI. Eleven studies containing 9570 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, older age and increased heart rate (HR) levels had a significant positive association with NOAF in patients with AMI. The MD in age between the patients with, and those without NOAF, was 8.22 units (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.44-9.01), test for overall effect z score = 20.51 (P < .00001, I-2 = 0%). Moreover, the MD in a subgroup analysis for HR levels between the patients with, and those without NOAF was 4.34 units (95% Cl: 2.56-6.11), test for overall effect z score = 4.78 (P < .00001, I-2 = 31%). In patient with AMI, our meta-analysis demonstrated that older age and increased HR levels on admission are related to greater risk of NOAF.