Summary of the characteristics of the included studies
| Author, year, country | Mean age | Prevalence (N) | Follow-up time | Cut-off (mg/L) | AF type | Cardioversion | Sensitivity, pecificity (%) | Adjusted OR | Adjusted variables |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wazni, 2005, USA16 | 67.3 | 0.68 (111) | 76 days | 3.1 | Persistent AF | Electric | 59, 69 | 2.0 (1.2 to 3.2) | Age, sex, duration of AF, coronary artery disease, hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, LAD |
| Zarauza, 2006, Spain19 | 62.7 | 0.43 (37) | 30 days | 3.0 | Persistent AF | Electric | 81, 67 | 3.7 (1.3 to 10.8) | Sex, age, time, size of left atrium, history of hypertension, pharmacological treatment |
| Watanabe, 2006, Japan18 | 64 | 0.76 (84) | 1 year | 0.6 | Persistent AF | Electric | 75, 90 | 5.3 (2.5 to 11.5) | Sex, coronary artery disease, hypertension, smoking, diabetes, AF duration, LAD, LVEF |
| Loricchio, 2007, Italy15 | 67 | 0.52 (102) | 1 year | 1.9 | Persistent AF | Electric | 87, 37 | 5.0 (1.8 to 14.3) | Age, gender, EF, LAD, hypertension, diabetes, pharmacological treatment |
| Lombardi, 2008, Italy14 | 67 | 0.34 (53) | 21 days | 3.6 | Persistent AF | Electric | 64, 83 | 1.6 (1.0 to 2.5) | Age, LAD, LAA, LAAEV, NTproBNP level, history of AF, AF duration, pharmacological treatment |
| Henningsen, 2009, Denmark12 | 65 | 0.68 (56) | 180 days | 3.0 | Persistent AF | Electric | 60, 83 | 7.7 (1.9 to 31.1)* | NA |
| Rizos, 2010, Greece17 | 67.9 | 0.64 (61) | 1 year | 2.3 | Paroxysmal AF | Pharmacologic | 72, 68 | 6.2 (2.2 to 17.6) | IL-6, age, gender, PAF history, LAD, EF, diabetes, smoking |
| Liu, 2011, China13 | 55.1 | 0.39 (44) | 1 year | 1.9 | Paroxysmal AF | Electric ablation | 79, 70 | 5.1 (2.1 to 12.1) | Age, gender, type of AF, duration of AF, LAD, LVEF, plasma hs-CRP concentration |
| Barassi, 2012, Italy10 | 66.9 | 0.33 (57) | 21 days | 3.0 | Persistent AF | Electric | 74, 84 | 14.9 (3.9 to 57.2)* | NA |
*Crude effect estimate.
AF, atrial fibrillation; BNP, b-type natriuretic peptide; EF, ejection fraction; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL, interleukin; LAA, left atrial appendage; LAAEF, left atrial appendage ejection fraction; LAD, left anterior descending coronary artery; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; NA, not applicable; NTproBNP, N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide; PAF, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.