Skin Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Rate Control of Atrial Fibrillation

Rate control in atrial fibrillation.

Untreated atrial fibrillation is usually associated with a rapid, irregular ventricular response and is often accompanied by symptoms including palpitations, fatigue, dyspnea, and dizziness. It is widely accepted that slowing the ventricular response, both at rest and during activity, with the use of drugs that prolong the refractory period of the atrioventricular (AV) node (so-called rate-cont...

Rate control in atrial fibrillation.

Control of the heart rate (rate control) is central to atrial fibrillation management, even for patients who ultimately require control of the rhythm. We review heart rate control in patients with atrial fibrillation, including the rationale for the intervention, patient selection, and the treatments available. The choice of rate control depends on the symptoms and clinical characteristics of t...

Effect of atrial fibrillation and an irregular ventricular response on sympathetic nerve activity in human subjects.

BACKGROUND Although the hemodynamic changes associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) have been extensively studied, the neural changes remain unclear. We hypothesized that AF is associated with an increase in sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and that the irregular ventricular response contributes to this state of sympathoexcitation. METHODS AND RESULTS In 8 patients referred for an electrophy...

Rate Control in Atrial Fibrillation: Avoiding Morbidity.

Rate versus rhythm control in atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether rate control is a viable initial treatment approach in persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) through the evaluation of recently completed trials comparing rate and rhythm control. DATA SOURCES Biomedical literature was obtained through MEDLINE (1966-December 2003) and the Iowa database. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION Articles identified from the biomedical ...