Examining rare and low-frequency genetic variants previously associated with lone or familial forms of atrial fibrillation in an electronic medical record system: a cautionary note.

Background: Studies in individuals or small kindreds have implicated rare variants in 25 different genes in lone and familial atrial fibrillation (AF) using linkage and segregation analysis, functional characterization, and rarity in public databases. Here, we used a cohort of 20 204 patients of European or African ancestry with electronic medical records and exome chip data to compare the frequency of AF among carriers and noncarriers of these rare variants.

Methods And Results: The exome chip included 19 of 115 rare variants, in 9 genes, previously associated with lone or familial AF.