Interatrial block is not that common in the general population. In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study involving 14,625 patients, interatrial block was detected in 0.5% at baseline and 1.3% developed interatrial block during a follow up of about 6 years. The study showed that interatrial block was associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation with a hazard ratio of 3.09 [1]. Bayes Syndrome is third degree interatrial block with paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmias [2]. There is association with increased risk of ischemic stroke and cardiac death. Interatrial block has been shown to correlate directly with structural remodeling and a decrease in the absolute value of strain rate during left atrial booster pump function and early reservoir period determined using speckle tracking echocardiography [3].
References
- O’Neal WT, Zhang ZM, Loehr LR, Chen LY, Alonso A, Soliman EZ. Electrocardiographic Advanced Interatrial Block and Atrial Fibrillation Risk in the General Population. Am J Cardiol. 2016 Jun 1;117(11):1755-9. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.03.013. Epub 2016 Mar 18. PMID: 27072646; PMCID: PMC4898264.
- Adrian Baranchuk, Pelayo Torner, Antoni Bayés de Luna. Bayés Syndrome – What Is It? Circulation. 2018;137:200-202.
- Lacalzada-Almeida J, Izquierdo-Gómez MM, Belleyo-Belkasem C, Barrio-Martínez P, García-Niebla J, Elosua R, Jiménez-Sosa A, Escobar-Robledo LA, Bayés de Luna A. Interatrial block and atrial remodeling assessed using speckle tracking echocardiography. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2018 Feb 21;18(1):38. doi: 10.1186/s12872-018-0776-6. PMID: 29466939; PMCID: PMC5822665.