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Success of electrocardioversion on the elderly

BACKGROUND: There are two treatment strategies for medication-resistant atrial fibrillation (AF): rhythm control or rate control. It has been suggested that rate control is a valid strategy in well-tolerated AF because it does not result in increased mortality. We aimed to investigate the 1-year out...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Stroink, J. J., van Boven, N., Ruiter, J. H., Umans, V. A. W. M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3931861/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24452823
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12471-014-0519-y
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: There are two treatment strategies for medication-resistant atrial fibrillation (AF): rhythm control or rate control. It has been suggested that rate control is a valid strategy in well-tolerated AF because it does not result in increased mortality. We aimed to investigate the 1-year outcome of rhythm control in an elderly population of AF patients. METHOD: The study was retrospective, using the data collected from electrocardioversions (ECV) of elderly patients and the data of their follow-up visits to the outpatient clinic. We looked for recurrence of AF within the first year after ECV. Furthermore, we investigated possible predictors of recurrence. RESULTS: From February 2008 till November 2011, 436 consecutive elderly patients admitted for ECV were included. The 1-year recurrence rate of AF was 51.3 %. We found that being female and a large left atrial diameter were independent predictors of recurrence. CONCLUSION: The AF recurrence rate in our elderly population is comparable with reported AF recurrence rates in a younger population; we conclude that rhythm control can be regarded as the viable strategy in persistent AF in elderly patients.