Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Inflammation and heart failure risk in atrial fibrillation: Prospective evidence from UK Biobank
Main finding · Incident HF by hs-CRP quartileResult — go to the resultHazard ratio 1.61 95% CI 1.51–1.73Authors' conclusion
Elevated hs-CRP is an independent predictor of increased HF risk in patients with AF, supporting its potential role in improving HF risk stratification.
Study context
- Population
- Participants with atrial fibrillation (AF) in the UK Biobank without baseline heart failure (HF), significant mitral valve disease or inflammatory conditions6,805 incident HF cases
- Participants
- 32,502 participants
- Exposure
- High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) quartile 4 vs quartile 1
- Quartile 4n = 7,786
- Quartile 1n = 8,419reference
- Outcome
- Incident HF
- Follow-up
- Median 13.3 years
Methodological detailsUK Biobank
- UK Biobank
Main finding
Incident HF by hs-CRP quartile
Hazard ratio
1.61
95% CI 1.51–1.73
Events by group
Quartile 4 vs Quartile 1
HR 1.61 (95% CI 1.51–1.73)
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Incident HF, by hs-CRP cutoff and per-SD increaseElevated hs-CRP (≥2 mg/dL) | 1.39 (1.33–1.46) | |
| Incident HF, by hs-CRP cutoff and per-SD increasePer-standard-deviation increase | 1.12 (1.10–1.15) | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Incident HF, by hs-CRP cutoff and per-SD increase
- Robust across all sensitivity analyses, subgroup comparisons, propensity score matching cohorts and competing risk models
Original publication
Inflammation and heart failure risk in atrial fibrillation: Prospective evidence from UK Biobank. Heart Rhythm. Published 13 November 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it