Maybe Atrial Fibrillation DOES Matter in Ventricular Assist Device Patients? ∗

Atrial fibrillation (AF) management poses challenges that are typically distilled into a simple question: rate control or rhythm control? Do the benefits of full anticoagulation outweigh the potential risks in this patient? As an internal medicine resident, I found AF management much less anxiety provoking than acute coronary syndromes. Hours of pathophysiology and lurking in the back of the room on rounds reinforced the relatively “benign” nature of AF. The AFFIRM (Atrial Fibrillation Follow-up Investigation of Rhythm Management) study was published (1), I used the CHADS2 (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age, diabetes mellitus, prior stroke or TIA or thromboembolism) score (2), and learned how to address the simple questions. AF was quickly filed under “phone calls that I can handle alone.”
Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research