AFib linked to family history in blacks

According to a new research, black and Latino individuals are paradoxically more likely to experience higher rates of complications and even death as a result of atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib.

Due to the development of a large, diverse registry of patients, researchers at the University of Illinois who have been studying AFib in minority populations think they have unlocked one small part of the mystery.

"Our analysis shows that there is a genetic predisposition to early-onset AFib in blacks and Latinos that is greater than what we see in whites," said Dr. Dawood Darbar, a researcher.

Darbar added that the study offered the first research-based evidence in support of increased monitoring, even including genetic testing, of individuals and their families who have first-degree relatives diagnosed with AFib prior to the age of 60 as a preventive measure against complications that can develop as a result of the condition, including stroke.

"Many people with AFib do not know they have the condition until they present to the emergency room with a stroke," Darbar said. "Identifying people at risk for AFib and preventing these complications is the most effective way to improve AFib outcomes in black and Latino communities."

While researchers said that more studies on AFib are needed, this one is unique because most prior studies on the family history and AFib relied on data from mostly white populations, leaving doctors with little research to guide personalised treatment in minority communities. Of the 664 patients enrolled in UIC's AFib registry at the time of the study, 40 per cent were white, 39 per cent were black and 21 per cent were Latino.

The researchers found that there was a family history of AFib in 49 per cent of patients who were diagnosed with early-onset AFib -- which is defined as occurring in patients younger than 60 years of age -- compared with only 22 per cent of patients diagnosed with AFib later in life.

When broken down by race, the chances of a patient with early-onset AFib having a first-degree relative with the condition was more than two-and-a-half times more likely for blacks and almost 10 times more likely for Latinos, compared with only two-and-a-half times more likely for whites.

The findings appeared in the Journal of JAMA Network Open.