Frequent premature atrial complex: A neglected marker of adverse cardiovascular events

Abstract

Premature atrial complexes (PACs) have long been considered a benign electrophysiological phenomenon unlikely to result in a severe clinical consequence. However, recent evidence had challenged this notion. Several studies showed that excessive PAC leads to the development of atrial fibrillation and subsequent hospitalization. The PAC is also associated with mortality, cardiovascular hospitalization, permanent pacemaker implantation, and nonlacunar ischemic stroke. The cutoff for excessive PAC differs from one study to another ranging from 76 PACs per 24 h to >32 PACs per hour. Increased adverse cardiovascular events demonstrated by recent studies had challenged the long-held paradigm that PACs are unlikely to result in serious clinical consequences.

Keywords

• atrial fibrillation
• cardiovascular events
• premature atrial complex
• premature atrial contraction
• stroke