Up to 7.32 times risk of atrial fibrillation in the first year of diagnosis of cerebral infarction
Jun 26, 2025
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This is the result of a research team led by Professor Shin Dong-wook of Family Medicine at Samsung Medical Center published in the recent issue of the International Journal of Stroke.
Based on data from the National Health Insurance Service, the research team compared and analyzed the risk of developing atrial fibrillation in 98,706 patients with cerebral infarction and 47,695 patients with cerebral hemorrhage from 2010 to 2018 with the general control group. As a result of the study, patients with cerebral infarction had a 2.32 times higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation, especially in the first year of diagnosis of cerebral infarction. Even after one year, the risk of developing atrial fibrillation was 1.64 times higher.
In a previous study, the research team confirmed that patients with cerebral hemorrhage have a 1.24 times higher risk of atrial fibrillation and a four-fold increase in the first year.
In this regard, the research team explained that when a stroke occurs, heart instability can be induced due to an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system or a systemic inflammatory response, which can increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. It was also estimated that the possibility of atrial fibrillation increased as structural and functional changes in the atrium occurred due to hyperactivation of the sympathetic nervous system and increased inflammatory cytokines, an immune response.
Professor Shin Dong-wook said "Atrial fibrillation is known to be an important cause of stroke, but on the contrary, atrial fibrillation is often diagnosed after stroke" and "Early diagnosis and active management are needed, especially for a year after stroke."
Meanwhile, according to the 「Korea Atrial fibrillation Fact Sheet 2024」 published by the Korean Arrhythmia Society last year, 20.4% of all cerebral infarction in Korea was accompanied by atrial fibrillation. In particular, 5-6% of patients first diagnosed with atrial fibrillation were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation after cerebral infarction.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
