Atrial fibrillation is a predictor of nonobstructive coronary artery disease in elective angiography in old age: a cross-sectional study in Poland and Russia

BACKGROUND: Significant changes in the coronary vessels are not confirmed in a large proportion of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. AIMS: The present study aimed to determine correlates and independent predictors of nonobstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in older adults referred for elective coronary angiography. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 2,214 patients referred to two medical centers (in Poland and Russia) between 2014 and 2016 for elective coronary angiography due to exacerbated angina, despite undergoing optimal therapy for CAD. The median age was 72 years (IQR: 68–76), and 49.5% patients were women. RESULTS: Significant stenosis (defined as stenosis of 50% or more of the diameter of the left main coronary artery stem or stenosis of 70% or more of the diameter of the remaining major epicardial vessels) was diagnosed only in 1135 (51.3%) patients. Female sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.44–3.72; p < 0.001) and atrial fibrillation (OR, 1.87; 95% CI 1.45–2.40; p < 0.001) were the main independent predictors of nonobstructive CAD. Significantly lower ORs were observed for diabetes (OR, 0.75; 95% CI 0.59–0.95; p = 0.02), chronic kidney disease (OR, 0.76; 95% CI 0.61–0.96; p = 0.02), and anemia (OR, 0.69; 95% CI 0.50–0.95; p = 0.02) after controlling for age, chronic heart failure, BMI, and study center. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed that nonobstructive CAD occurs in a high percentage of older patients referred for elective coronary angiography. This suggests the need to improve patient stratification for invasive diagnosis of CAD, especially for older women and patients with atrial fibrillation. Trial registration number and date of registration: NCT04537507, September 3, 2020.