Background

Atrial Fibrillation (AF):

• most common cardiac dysrhythmia that requires many people to seek emergency treatment annually
• manifests as an acute or chronic condition
• may be asymptomatic or be sufficiently disabling to restrict normal daily activities.

Epidemiology

Etiology

Risk Factors

• Hypertension
• Advanced age
• Ischemic heart disease
• Heart failure
• Valvular heart disease
• Sleep apnea
• Diabetes mellitus
• Dyslipidemia
• Coronary heart disease
• Obesity
• High-intensity endurance exercise
• Genetics

Clinical Manifestations

• Clinical manifestations depend on the presence of risk factors.
• Majority present tolerable symptoms.
• Minority have poorly tolerable symptoms due to angina or hemodynamic decompensation such as in pulmonary edema, hypotension, and circulatory collapse with syncope.