Atrial fibrillation in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: A comprehensive review

Table 1 Atrial fibrillation associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease: Data from literature

Ref.	Type of study	Patients (n)	Diagnosis of GERD and AF	Conclusion
Weigl et al[14], 2003	Retrospective	GERD and lone AF (n = 18)	Gastroscopy ECG	PPIs therapy could be beneficial in a subgroup of patients with AF, with fewer side effects
Cuomo et al[15], 2006	Prospective, mechanistic	GERD and arrhythmias (n = 32) Control group (n = 9)	Upper endoscopy Simultaneous 24-h pH-meter and Holter monitoring	PPIs therapy seems to improve GERD and cardiac symptoms in dysrhythmic patients in whom esophageal acid stimulus induces cardiac autonomic reflexes
Bunch et al[16], 2008	Prospective, epidemiologic, randomized	Olmsted County residents (n = 5288)	Self-report questionnaire Medical records ECG ICD-9 codes	There was no association between GERD and AF. Patients with esophagitis are more predisposed to develop AF
Kunz et al[17], 2009	Retrospective, epidemiologic	n = 163627	ICD-9 codes	GERD is associated with a higher risk of AF
Shimazu et al[18], 2011	Retrospective	GERD and AF (n = 86)	Questionnaire F-scale ECG, Holter monitoring	AF is an independent risk factor for GERD
Huang et al[19], 2012	Prospective, epidemiologic	GERD (n = 29688)Control group (n = 29597)	ICD-9 codes Endoscopy or 24-hs pH-meter ECG, Holter monitoring	Taken independently, GERD is associated with a higher risk of future AF in a nationwide population-based cohort
Reddy et al[21], 2013	Prospective, matched, case-control, mechanistic	GERD and AF (n = 10) Control group (n = 30)	Symptoms questionnaire	Patients with GERD are more likely to have AF and a positive vagal response during radiofrequency catheter ablation
Kubota et al[22], 2013	Cross-sectional	n = 201Control group (n = 278)	Questionnaire F-scale ECG, Holter monitoring	Significant correlation between nonvalvular AF and symptomatic GERD

AF: Atrial fibrillation; GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; PPIs: Proton pomp inhibitors; ECG: Electrocardiogram; ICD: International statistical classification of diseases.