Is A Little Atrial Fibrillation Still Too Much?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is most often viewed as a dichotomous variable, one that is either entirely present or absent. Guidelines support this perspective by recommending anticoagulation based on underlying stroke risk without regard to AF “type”, duration, or burden.1 The use of cardiac monitoring, however, has allowed us to quantify AF and associate outcomes with various arrhythmia characteristics.2, 3 These types of studies have raised legitimate doubts as to whether the 30 second threshold used to define AF is associated with meaningful consequences and have created equipoise for sub-clinical AF episodes lasting minutes to hours.

Source: Heart Rhythm - February 24, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Rod Passman Source Type: research