Prevention of thromboembolism after cardioversion of recent-onset atrial fibrillation: brief is not always safe.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common human arrhythmia causing a significant public health burden. Restoration of sinus rhythm by cardioversion of the arrhythmia, performed either electrically or pharmacologically, has been a main therapeutic option for the treatment of AF patients during the last decades. After publication of several large randomized studies showing no significant benefit of a rhythm control compared with a rate control strategy in AF patients (1,2), the number of cardioversions began to decline (3).