The young patient with asymptomatic atrial fibrillation: what is the evidence to leave the arrhythmia untreated?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and has gained increasingly more attention due to new treatment options, particularly catheter ablation. Growing experience with this technique and better AF suppression compared with antiarrhythmic medication have paved the way for its extended...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European heart journal 2014-06, Vol.35 (22), p.1439-1447
Main Authors: Wasmer, Kristina, Breithardt, Günter, Eckardt, Lars
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Anti-Arrhythmia Agents - therapeutic use
Atrial Fibrillation - epidemiology
Atrial Fibrillation - prevention & control
Atrial Fibrillation - therapy
Catheter Ablation - methods
Child
Child, Preschool
Disease Progression
Electrocardiography, Ambulatory
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Treatment Outcome
Watchful Waiting
Young Adult
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Summary:Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and has gained increasingly more attention due to new treatment options, particularly catheter ablation. Growing experience with this technique and better AF suppression compared with antiarrhythmic medication have paved the way for its extended use and indication. At this point, it is recommended for symptomatic patients if antiarrhythmic drugs failed and in selected young symptomatic patients as first line therapy. It is a tempting concept to improve prognosis in young AF patients by rhythm control irrespective of symptoms. In this review, we summarize epidemiological data on young AF, efficacy, and limitations of rate and rhythm control by means of medication and catheter ablation in young patients, information on arrhythmia progression and outcome, and the consequences of these data for AF treatment in young, asymptomatic patients.
ISSN:0195-668X
1522-9645
DOI:10.1093/eurheartj/ehu113