title: Echocardiographic and clinical predictors for outcome of elective cardioversion of atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Previous studies have suggested that success of elective direct-current cardioversion for atrial fibrillation (AF) can be predicted from clinical features and M-mode echocardiographic left atrial diameter. We evaluated clinical variables as well as M-mode and 2-dimensional echocardiographic measurements of atrial size in 85 patients undergoing electrical cardioversion for AF. Of 65 patients who were initially converted to sinus rhythm, 45 (69%) and 38 (58%) remained in sinus rhythm at 1 and 6 months, respectively. No historical feature predicted initial success, although patients with cardiomyopathy or pulmonary disease underlying their AF had significantly lower success rates compared with those having other etiologies. Furthermore, no M-mode or 2-dimensional echocardiographic measurements of atrial size predicted initial success of cardioversion. Maintenance of sinus rhythm at 1 month was related to short duration of AF before cardioversion (less than 3 months vs greater than 12 months, p less than 0.05). Left atrial area and long axis dimension by 2-dimensional echocardiography were significantly larger in patients remaining in sinus rhythm than in those who had reverted to AF at 1 month (28 +/- 7 vs 24 +/- 5 cm2 and 65 +/- 9 vs 59 +/- 8 mm, respectively, both p less than 0.05), but overlap was great. No significant difference in atrial dimensions was noted at 6-month follow-up. It appears that, although no clinical or echocardiographic variable predicts initial success for cardioversion of AF, duration of AF does predict maintenance of sinus rhythm 1 month after initial success.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University of California San Diego Medical Center 92103.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Dittrich
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schneiderman
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Blacky
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Savides
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Nicod
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004554:Electric Countershock; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies