BACKGROUND Recent community-based research has linked aortic stiffness to the development of atrial fibrillation. We posit that aortic stiffness contributes to adverse atrial remodeling leading to the persistence of atrial fibrillation following catheter ablation in lone atrial fibrillation patients, despite the absence of apparent structural heart disease. Here, we aim to evaluate aortic stiff...

BACKGROUND Detection of atrial fibrillation after ischemic stroke is challenging due to its paroxysmal nature. We aimed to assess predictors of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation using non-invasive surface ECG and transthoracic echocardiography to select candidates for atrial fibrillation screening. METHODS Ischemic stroke patients without documented atrial fibrillation (n = 110, 67 ± 10 years, 4...

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Surgical treatment is the most effective means of curing atrial fibrillation. The classic Cox maze procedure eliminates atrial fibrillation in more than 90% of patients and has remained the gold standard in surgery for atrial fibrillation. Despite being highly effectiv...

Nine hundred and sixty-nine coronary care patients with acute myocardial infarction were followed for one year. Atrial fibrillation was documented in 107 patients. Compared with patients without atrial fibrillation, those with this arrhythmia were older, had clinically more severe infarction, and had a higher frequency of ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia, and right bundle-branch block. T...

2. Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter: Most common use of Holter in this setting is to diagnose transient atrial fibrillation. There is a unique application of Holter ECG in atrial fibrillation, that is particularly in understanding the relationship to autonomically mediated atrial fibrillation. After the diagnosis has been made Holter is used to assist the efficacy of anti-arrhythmic drugs in suppres...

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained arrhythmia. Because of its potentially serious clinical consequences (heart failure, stroke, and cognitive impairment), atrial fibrillation has important socioeconomic and health implications. This article reviews the major studies on the epidemiology of atrial fibrillation in Spain. Recent data suggest that in people older than 40 years, the pre...

Atrial fibrillation is a very common arrhythmia in patients who need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) because of life threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation at the time of implantation has been calculated to be as high as 20% and it has been reported that during the lifespan of the ICD more than 50% of patients may develop atrial fibrillat...

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in the genesis of various cardiac rhythm disorders. Experimental studies have indicated that in atrial fibrillation particularly vagal activity may have a decisive influence on the electrophysiologic properties of atrial myocardium. In patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, a carefully taken history and electrocardiographic findings ob...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after noncardiothoracic surgery is known to be very rare; there have been few prior studies on this topic. We evaluated the incidence, predictors, and prognosis of atrial fibrillation after noncardiothoracic surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Patients who underwent noncardiothoracic surgery at our medical center under gen...

BACKGROUND It recently has been demonstrated that during atrial fibrillation, a short and variable excitable gap exists, allowing regional control of atrial fibrillation by local stimulation. In the present study, we visualized the process of excitation during regional entrainment of atrial fibrillation by rapid pacing. METHODS AND RESULTS In six open-chest dogs, the excitation of the left at...