Atrial Fibrillation

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Atrial Fibrillation

NIH - Medical Enyclopedia: Atrial fibrillation/flutter

"Atrial fibrillation/flutter is a heart rhythm disorder (arrhythmia). It usually involves a rapid heart rate, in which the upper heart chambers (atria) are stimulated to contract in a very disorganized and abnormal manner."

Highlighted Article

Atrial fibrillation. (Mt Sinai J Med. 2006)

"Diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, valvular disease, and myocardial infarction are all risk factors in the development of atrial fibrillation. And the diagnosis confers a five-fold increase in the incidence of stroke."

Atrial Fibrillation

General Information

NEWS:

Atrial fibrillation on the rise in U.S. "Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which the heart's upper chambers quiver instead of beating regularly. This arrhythmia increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, cognitive impairment and death. Many people do not experience heart palpitations, shortness of breath or other symptoms that would bring the condition to the attention of a health care provider, Tsang explained. Scientists do not know the cause of the condition, but its risk factors include high blood pressure, diabetes, and valvular heart disease. Recent data have also indicated that obesity is a risk."

Do you have irregular heart beats?

Heart arrhythmia may affect men's brains: study "Men with atrial fibrillation score significantly lower on cognitive performance tests than their peers without this dangerous heart arrhythmia, according to an analysis of data for men enrolled in the Framingham Offspring Study. Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which the heart's upper chambers quiver instead of beating regularly. This arrhythmia increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, cognitive impairment and death. "

ARTICLES:

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Atrial fibrillation. (Mt Sinai J Med. 2006)

Comparison of the impact of atrial fibrillation on the risk of early death after stroke in women versus men. (J Neurol. 2006) "BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is considered a predictive factor of poor clinical outcome in patients with an ischemic stroke (IS). This study addressed whether the impact of AF on the in-hospital mortality after first ever IS is different according to the patient's gender. … CONCLUSIONS: The impact of AF is different in the twogenders and appears as a specific ischemic stroke predictor of in-hospital mortality just for women."

C-reactive protein and atrial fibrillation: "Evidence for the presence of inflammation in the perpetuation of the arrhythmia" (International Journal of Cardiology 2006)

Does Rhythm Matter? The Prognostic Importance of Atrial Fibrillation in Heart Failure (Heart, Lung and Circulation 2006) " This data shows that the presence of AF in two general HF populations in New Zealand is not associated with an adverse prognosis. HF severity, and in particular a restrictive filling pattern, remain powerful predictors of mortality."

[Epidemiology of atrial fibrillation and relevance of underlying cardiovascular disease.] (Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2006) "It can be assumed that one in four to five persons will have AF in the course of his/her life. Its incidence and prevalence rise with age. Cardiac valve defects and cardiovascular disorders associated with structural change, especially hypertension and heart failure are the prediposing factors. The most important extracardiac causes or triggers are genetic disposition, thyroid dysfunction and abnormal glucose metabolism."

Exercise Intolerance in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Clinical and Echocardiographic Determinants of Exercise Capacity. (J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2005)

Increased risk of sudden and non-sudden cardiovascular death in patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter following acute myocardial infarction. (Eur Heart J. 2006)

Monitoring anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation. (J Thromb Thrombolysis. 2006)

Relation of C-Reactive Protein to the First Onset and the Recurrence Rate in Lone Atrial Fibrillation (The American Journal of Cardiology 2006)

Stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation: The diagnosis and management of hypertension by specialists (Canadian Journal of Cardiology 2006) "CONCLUSIONS: In patients treated by specialists for AF, systolic blood pressure is significantly reduced during follow-up; however, 50% of patients continue to have suboptimal blood pressure control. In many patients, hypertension is not identified as an important comorbid illness and antihypertensive therapy is neither recommended nor initiated by the specialist. Greater specialist involvement in the identification and treatment of hypertension in patients with AF could lead to an important, additional reduction in stroke."

The Relationship Between Stature and the Prevalence of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Left Ventricular Dysfunction (J Am Coll Cardiol, 2006) "CONCLUSIONS: In patients with LV dysfunction, increasing stature portends a higher risk of AF independent of other traditional risk factors for the arrhythmia. This association seems to account for the higher prevalence of AF in men and may be useful for identification of a high-risk population."

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