Outcome of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Sepsis

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most frequent arrhythmias in critically ill patients. Sepsis is a major cause of inpatient mortality and it has been associated with cardiac arrhythmias. The objective of this study was to study the outcome of atrial fibrillation in patients who are admitted with sepsis. Methods This is a prospective, single-center cohort study of patients admitted to the Medicine Department between June 1, 2019, and November 30, 2019. The inclusion criteria were adult patients with sepsis and septic shock. In this study, 113 patients were enrolled and outcomes were compared between the group that developed atrial fibrillation during the hospital stay and the group without atrial fibrillation. Results There were 57 (50.4%) patients with AF including 23 (20.4%) who also had a prior history. Total inpatient mortality was 42 (37.2%), of which 17 patients (40.5%) had AF. AF was not found to be associated with higher mortality or increased length of hospital stay (p-value 0.103 and 0.858, respectively). Conclusion AF was not found to be a cause of higher mortality in patients with sepsis or septic shock. There is a need for larger-scale studies to find out the causes of high inpatient mortality in sepsis and the need for local guidelines regarding the management of AF in critically ill patients.