Among the outcomes examined , the highest absolute risk increase was for heart failure .
Associations between atrial fibrillation and included outcomes were broadly consistent across subgroups and in sensitivity analyses .
Atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of death and an increased risk of cardiovascular and renal disease .
OBJECTIVE To quantify the association between  atrial fibrillation and cardiovascular disease , renal disease , and death .
Relationship of Sudden Cardiac Death to New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Hypertensive Patients With Left Ventricular Hypertrophy
Background —Prevalent atrial fibrillation ( AF ) is associated with a higher sudden cardiac death ( SCD ) rate in some population s , and incident AF predicts increased mortality risk in the general population and after myocardial infa rct ion . However , the relationship of SCD to new-onset AF is unclear . Methods and Results —The relationship of SCD to new-onset AF was evaluated in 8831 hypertensive patients with electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy with no history of AF , in sinus rhythm on their baseline electrocardiogram , r and omly assigned to losartan- or atenolol-based treatment . During 4.7±1.1 years mean follow-up , new-onset AF occurred in 701 patients ( 7.9 % ) and SCD in 151 patients ( 1.7 % ) . In univariate Cox analyses , new-onset AF was associated with a > 4-fold higher risk of SCD ( hazard ratio , 4.69 ; 95 % CI interval , 2.96–7.45 ; P<0.001 ) . In multivariate Cox analyses adjusting for age , sex , race , diabetes mellitus , history of heart failure , myocardial infa rct ion , ischemic heart disease , stroke , smoking , serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol , creatinine , glucose , and urine albumin/creatinine ratio as st and ard risk factors , and for incident myocardial infa rct ion , in-treatment use of digoxin , systolic and diastolic pressure , heart rate , QRS duration , Cornell voltage- duration product , and Sokolow-Lyon voltage left ventricular hypertrophy treated as time-varying covariates , new-onset AF remained associated with a > 3-fold increased risk of SCD ( hazard ratio , 3.13 ; 95 % confidence interval , 1.87–5.24 ; P<0.001 ) . Conclusions —Development of new-onset AF identifies hypertensive patients at  increased risk of SCD . Clinical Trial Registration —URL : http://www . clinical trials.gov . Unique identifier : NCT00338260
Among the outcomes examined , the highest absolute risk increase was for heart failure .
Associations between atrial fibrillation and included outcomes were broadly consistent across subgroups and in sensitivity analyses .
Atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of death and an increased risk of cardiovascular and renal disease .
OBJECTIVE To quantify the association between  atrial fibrillation and cardiovascular disease , renal disease , and death .