Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with an unfavorable prognosis, increasing the risk of stroke and death. Although traditionally associated with cardiovascular diseases, there is increasing evidence of high incidence of AF in patients with highly prevalent noncardiovascular diseases, such as cancer, sepsis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obstructive sleep apnea and chronic kidney disease. Therefore, considerable number of patients has been affected by these comorbidities, leading to an increased risk of adverse outcomes.The authors performed a systematic review of the literature aiming to better elucidate the interaction between these conditions.Several mechanisms seem to contribute to the concomitant presence of AF and noncardiovascular diseases. Comorbidities, advanced age, autonomic dysfunction, electrolyte disturbance and inflammation are common to these conditions and may predispose to AF.The treatment of AF in these patients represents a clinical challenge, especially in terms of antithrombotic therapy, since the scores for stratification of thromboembolic risk, such as the CHADS2 and CHA2DS2VASc scores, and the scores for hemorrhagic risk, like the HAS-BLED score have limitations when applied in these conditions.The evidence in this area is still scarce and further investigations to elucidate aspects like epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of AF in noncardiovascular diseases are still needed.

Speckle tracking-derived strain and strain rate are recently available parameters to assess left atrial (LA) deformation. We hypothesized that such new parameters could be of interest to evaluate the risk of LA stasis among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objective: To assess the prevalence of short corrected QT (QTc) intervals and its impact on short QT syndrome (SQTS) diagnosis using different QT correction formulae.Methods: Observational study. The prevalence of short QTc intervals was estimated using four different QT correction formulae in 14 662 young adults from the ‘Sudden Cardiac Death Screening of Risk FactOrS’ (SCD-SOS) cohort. Then, using data from this cohort and the pooled-cohort analysed by Gollob et al, comprising 61 patients with SQTS, we assessed the impact of the different QTc correction formulae on SQTS probability and diagnosis based on the Expert Consensus recommendations (QTc ≤330 ms or QTc 330–360 ms+1 additional risk feature).Results: The prevalence of individuals with a QTc ≤330 and ≤320 ms in the SCD-SOS cohort was extremely low (≤0.07% and≤0.02%, respectively), and these were more frequently identified by the Framingham correction. The different QTc correction formulae led to a shift in SQTS probability in 5%–10% of individuals in both the SCD-SOS and Gollob cohort). Intermediate probability individuals were rare (<0.1%), and no high-SQTS probability individuals were identified in the SCD-SOS cohort. Based on Consensus criteria, instead of 12 (0.08%) individuals being diagnosed with SQTS using the Bazett equation, a different number of individuals would meet diagnostic criteria with the other formulae: 11 (0.08%) using Fridericia, 9 (0.06%) with Hodges and 16 (0.11%) using the Framingham equation.Conclusion: Prevalence of SQTS in the apparently healthy adult population is low. Applying different QTc correction formulae leads to significant reclassification of SQTS probability and their impact on predicting outcomes should be assessed.

Turner syndrome is a relatively common genetic disorder of female development, characterized by partial or complete absence of an X chromosome, with a variable clinical presentation. Congenital or acquired cardiovascular disease is highly prevalent and a major cause of early death in this syndrome. The most feared complication is aortic dissection, which can occur at a very young age and requires careful assessment of its risk factors. A systematic literature search identified sixty relevant publications. These were reviewed with regard to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in women with Turner syndrome, especially in pregnancy. The most common congenital cardiovascular defects are presented and illustrated with appropriate iconography. The current recommendations regarding the screening and monitoring of cardiovascular disease in these patients are discussed.