title: Structural changes of atrial myocardium during chronic atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Of all known arrhythmia's, atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most often met in the clinical setting and it is associated with an increase in mortality risk. Several risk factors for AF have been described and several mechanisms of induction and maintenance have been proposed. Studies in patients with AF have shown that structural changes occur in the atria, but the relationship between the structural remodelling and the chronicity of the arrhythmia are not well understood. The changes mainly concern adaptive (dedifferentiation of cardiomyocytes) and maladaptive (degeneration of cells with replacement fibrosis) features. In order to characterise the time course of the structural remodelling the need for animal models which adequately mimic chronic atrial fibrillation in humans is felt essential. In this review, the structural changes that are observed during prolonged sustained AF in patients and animal models, are described. Furthermore, the time course and potential mechanisms of structural remodelling are discussed and methods for elucidation of the underlying molecular mechanisms are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Thijssen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ausma
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Allessie
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: van Eys
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borgers
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000473:pathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D006041:Goats; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins