Continuing Education: Atrial fibrillation: Current trends in management

Abstract

Quite a number of dramatic interventional advances in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias such as catheter ablation and implantable cardiac defibrillators for serious ventricular arrhythmias have held the limelight over the last few years. The treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), which remains the commonest arrhythmia affecting 0.5% of people aged 50-59 years increasing to 12% at age above 74years, has received relatively little attention. There is however, a recent resurgence of interest following some important experimental and therapeutic advances. This article reviews the current understanding of the nature of atrial fibrillation (AF) and some recent developments in the pharmacological and alternative therapeutic approaches.


Key Words: Atrial fibrillation, treatment


Annals of African Medicine Vol.3(2) 2004: 98-108