Half of inpatients who undergo aortic valve replacement develop new-onset atrial fibrillation, a US study suggests.

The incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation was 50.4% among transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) hospitalisations and 50.1% among surgical aortic valve replacements, University of Minnesota researchers reported.

Their data, from the US’s National Inpatient Sample, covered more than 171,000 hospitalisations for aortic valve replacement (mean patient age 81), they wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Furthermore, new-onset AF was associated with 57% higher odds of in-hospital mortality after TAVI and with 36% higher odds of in-hospital mortality after surgical valve replacement — both significant increases compared with the absence of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF).