Small hiatal hernia as a risk factor of atrial fibrillation

PURPOSE: Hiatal hernia (HH) is considered a risk factor of atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to evaluate HH in computed tomography (CT) images in patients awaiting ablation due to atrial fibrillation, and to look for a correlation between HH in patients without AF and with AF. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 441 patients divided in two groups: 207 patients subjected to computed tomography before ablation procedure due to atrial fibrillation and 234 patients as the control group, who underwent CT scans to rule out coronary disease (no AF in history). RESULTS: Small HH, e.g. under or equal to 2 cm, are associated with a higher risk of AF compared to the control group, which was not observed for bigger HH. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of small HH may be a risk factor of AF.