Electrical Cardioversion of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: Acute and Long-Term Results Stratified According to Arrhythmia Duration
Atrial Fibrillation Thursday, July 12th, 2012Onlinelibrary.wiley.com: 7/3/12.
Background:Current definition of persistent atrial fibrillation (PAF) enrolls a heterogeneous population with different atrial fibrillation (AF) exposure and degree of atrial substrate. Study aims were to evaluate acute and long-term results of electrical cardioversion (ECV) and to identify temporal cutoff of previous AF exposure to reclassify PAF in subgroups with different chance of sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance.
Methods:Five hundred twenty-one patients (66% men; age 69 ± 10 years) with PAF undergoing ECV, were divided in four groups according to AF duration at the time of ECV: group A with AF ≤2 months (141 patients); group B with AF >2 and ≤4 months (176 patients); group C with AF >4 and ≤6 months (89 patients); and group D with AF >6 months and <1 year (115 patients). Read more