Effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin Ⅱ receptor blocker on one-year outcomes of patients with atrial fibrillation: insights from a multicenter registry study in China

Objective To evaluate the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor(ACEI)/angiotensin Ⅱ receptor blocker(ARB)therapy on the prognosis of patients with atrial fibrillation(AF).Methods A total of 1,991 AF patients from the AF registry were divided into two groups according to whether they were treated with ACEI/ARB at recruitment.Baseline characteristics were carefully collected and analyzed.Logistic regression was utilized to identify the predictors of ACEI/ARB therapy.The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality,while the secondary endpoints included cardiovascular mortality,stroke and major adverse events(MAEs)during the one-year follow-up period.Univariable and multivariable Cox regression were performed to identify the association between ACEI/ARB therapy and the one-year outcomes.Results In total,759 AF patients(38.1%)were treated with ACEI/ARB.Compared with AF patients without ACEI/ARB therapy,patients treated with ACEI/ARB tended to be older and had a higher rate of permanent AF,hypertension,diabetes mellitus,heart failure(HF),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)<40%,coronary artery disease(CAD),prior myocardial infarction(MI),left ventricular hypertrophy,tobacco use and concomitant medications(all P<0.05).Hypertension,HF,LVEF<40%,CAD,prior MI and tobacco use were determined to be predictors of ACEI/ARB treatment.Multivariable analysis showed that ACEI/ARB therapy was associated with a significantly lower risk of one-year all-cause mortality[hazard ratio(HR)(95%CI):0.682(0.527-0.882),P=0.003],cardiovascular mortality[HR(95%CI):0.713(0.514-0.988),P=0.042]and MAEs[HR(95%CI):0.698(0.568-0.859),P=0.001].The association between ACEI/ARB therapy and reduced mortality was consistent in the subgroup analysis.Conclusions In patients with AF,ACEI/ARB was related to significantly reduced one-year all-cause mortality,cardiovascular mortality and MAEs despite the high burden of cardiovascular comorbidities.