John Gallegos-Jara, Departamento de Medicina, Servicio de Cardiología, Sección de Electrofisiología, Hospital Militar Central, Lima, Perú
José Drago-Silva, Departamento de Medicina, Servicio de Cardiología, Clínica Ricardo Palma. Lima, Perú
Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common chronic cardiac arrhythmia worldwide. Objective: To identify the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with AF and to describe the frequency of indicated therapies, embolic events, and hemorrhagic events in anticoagulated patients with AF. Method: RePerFA is a national registry conducted between 2020 and 2022 in 13 departments of Peru. RePerFA included patients with documented AF, excluding patients with transient or secondary AF (thyrotoxicosis, immediate postoperative period of cardiac surgery, terminal illness, onset during pregnancy or lactation). Results: A total of 758 records were collected from the medical histories of patients with AF. The mean age was 75.9 years, and 76.4% had hypertension (HTN). 83% of the patients used anticoagulants, mainly direct oral anticoagulants (65.6%), 1.3% antiplatelets, 49.1% beta-blockers, and 27% antiarrhythmics. Radiofrequency ablation was performed in 2.1% of the patients and AF cardioversion in 10.9%. Additionally, there was a low frequency of cardioembolic (3.4%) and hemorrhagic (9.5%) events. Conclusions: Patients with AF in Peru have a high ischemic risk and low hemorrhagic risk, with advanced age and HTN being the predominant factors. Additionally, we observed low use of antiarrhythmics, high use of anticoagulants, and low frequency of embolic and hemorrhagic complications.
Keywords: Atrial fibrillation. Anticoagulants. Medical records. Peru.