Atrial Fibrillation, Atrioventricular Blocks and Bundle Branch Blocks in Hemodialysis Patients

Atrial fibrillation is one of the most frequent arrhythmias diagnosed in clinical practice and it is also relatively common in dialysis patients. Atrioventricular and intraventricular conduction disturbances are less investigated in hemodialysis patients and data about their prevalence are insufficient. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular blocks and bundle branch blocks in hemodialysis patients and to analyze different clinical risk factors. The study included 140 patients on long-term hemodialysis treatment. The presence of atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular blocks and bundle branch blocks was determined by electrocardiogram. Patients were divided into groups depending on the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation/bundle branch blocks and investigated variables were compared. Atrial fibrillation was present in 11 (7.9%) of the 140 patients. In multivariate analysis, age and higher concentration of uric acid were associated with atrial fibrillation. Prevalence of first-degree atrioventricular block was 2.9% (4 patients) and second- and third-degree atrioventricular blocks were not found. Prevalence of bundle branch blocks was 17.1% (24 patients): 5% of patients had a complete right bundle branch block, 6.4% had an incomplete right bundle branch block, 3.6% had a complete left bundle branch block and 2.1% of patients had an incomplete left bundle branch block. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation and bundle branch blocks in this study was relatively high in patients on hemodialysis and greater than that observed in general population. Presence of atrial fibrillation was associated with older age and higher concentration of uric acid.