Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.
On September 4, 2025, we reported on study data presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2025 Congress in Madrid, Spain, that suggest arrhythmias may indicate increased risk for future cardiovascular disease (CVD) among otherwise healthy adults.
The study
Researchers screened 1151 individuals (88% men) aged 40 to 65 years with no evidence of CVD symptoms or structural CVD. All participants underwent 24-hour Holter monitoring and exercise stress testing. The outcome of interest was atrial and ventricular ectopic burden; anyone above the median in either was considered at high burden, as well as anyone confirmed to have a complex arrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia.
The findings
Results showed that 32% of participants had supraventricular tachycardia, 4% had atrial fibrillation, and 6% had nonsustained ventriculatachycardia. each additional year of age increased the likelihood of atrial arrhythmia by 9% and ventricular arrhythmia by 4%. The prevalence of arrhythmias rose significantly beginning in the 50–54 age group. Multivariable analysis confirmed that both older age and lower fitness were strong, independent predictors of atrial arrhythmia burden.
Authors' comments
“These findings are a powerful reminder that the heart often whispers before it shouts. Subtle signs, such as frequent irregular heartbeats and complex arrhythmias, give us an early warning of future risk before symptoms occur. This could allow early intervention to alter the trajectory of disease, allowing us to move to a new era of anticipatory heart medicine.”
