ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in essential hypertensive (EH) patients without left ventricular hypertrophy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 972 EH without left ventricular hypertrophy were divided into EH + non MS group (n = 606) and EH + MS group (n = 366). Incidence of AF were compared between two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) Incidence of AF in EH + MS group was significantly higher than that in EH + non MS group (12.84% vs. 6.93%, P < 0.01). (2) Left atrial diameter (LAD), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd), interventricular septum thickness (IVS), left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPW) and left ventricular mass (LVM) were all significantly higher in EH + MS group than those in EH + non MS group (all P < 0.01) while left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and ejection fraction (EF) were similar between two groups. (3) Logistic regression analysis showed age, hypertension duration, LAD, LVEDd and MS were significantly correlated with incidence of AF in EH patients (OR: 1.683, 1.308, 2.262, 3.848 and 1.853, P < 0.05) and obesity was the independent predictor for incidence of AF (OR: 1.706, P = 0.029).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MS was associated with increased incidence of AF in EH patients without left ventricular hypertrophy in this cohort.</p>