Investigation of Correlation between C-reactive Protein and Left Atrial Diameter

Objective:By investigating the correlation between C-reactive protein (CRP) and left atrial diameter to explore the role of inflammation in the occurrence and development of atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods:Sixty-six cases of patients with atrial fibrillation,in which 26 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation,40 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (including permanent atrial fibrillation),and 36 patients with non-atrial fibrillation were enrolled into the control group. Serum levels of CRP was measured with immunoturbidimetry assay,and all patients were carried out echocardiography to measure left atrial diameter (LAD).Results:Serum level of CRP in the atrial fibrillation group (41.21±21.40 mg/L) was much higher than that in control group (9.33±3.91 mg/L) (P0.01). The serum level of CRP in the persistent atrial fibrillation group (48.51±22.88 mg/L) was much higher than that in the paroxysmal atrial fibrillation group (32.01±11.94 mg/L)(P0.05). LAD in the persistent atrial fibrillation group was significantly larger than that in the paroxysmal atrial fibrillation group and control group (P0.05). But the difference of LAD between the paroxysmal atrial fibrillation group and the control group was not statistically significant. There was a positive correlation between CRP of persistent AF and LAD (r=0.61,P0.05).Conclusions:Inflammation is an important basis for the occurrence and development of atrial fibrillation.