Topics in Atrial Fibrillation Management

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequently encountered arrhythmia in clinical practice. Physicians of almost all specialities have to deal with this arrhythmia and its consequences. The incidence of AF rises proportional with age. 75 % of patients with AF are older than 75 years. AF is not a benign disease. It can result in symptomatic palpitations, symptoms of pump failure, and above all an increase in the incidence of thrombo-embolic events like stroke. In the Framingham study it was shown that AF also independently increases mortality. In patients with heart failure the presence of AF further increases the risk of death. For a long time the only therapy available to the treating physician was digoxin. Today the therapeutic options are too numerous to cover in one thesis, however, they options are mentioned briefly in chapter one.