[Obesity as a risk factor for atrial fibrillation].

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and obesity is a growing problem of public health both in Poland and in the whole world. AF risk factors may be summarized as elderliness, male sex, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, coronary heart disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, cardiac surgery. Once obesity is an independent, potentially modifiable risk factor for AF. The connection between obesity and atrial fibrillation is very up-to-date because of incremental prevalence, almost epidemic of obesity in the whole world. The probability of AF among obese patients increases with concomitant obstructive sleep apnea. Regardless many researches it hasn't been assessed yet how obesity itself predisposes to AF. It could be an effect of change in the atrial anatomy, the rise of atrial pressure, mechanical stretch, interstitial atrial fibrosis and disruption of atrial electric integrity. A great role is ascribed to inflammation, especially proinflammatory cytokines increased by adipocites of left atrial epicardial adiposity.