How to manage atrial fibrillation: an update on recent clinical trials.
The latter half of the 1990s was a time of extraordinary progress in the understanding and management of atrial fibrillation (AF). Evidence that "AF begets AF" has generated considerable interest regarding the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon and has sparked the development of new concepts in both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapy. The recognition that, in some patients, AF is initiated and possibly maintained by atrial tachycardia originating in the pulmonary veins has challenged accepted notions regarding the mechanisms responsible for arrhythmia. New antiarrhythmic drugs, devices, ablation techniques, and pacing techniques have been developed and tested. Strategies for the use of existing therapies have been evaluated, and new indications for existing therapies are under consideration. This article reviews several studies published in 1999 and 2000 that addressed the mechanisms and the management of AF.
Carlson
M D
MD
Department of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
D000638:Amiodarone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004554:Electric Countershock; D006801:Humans; D008790:Metoprolol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010627:Phenethylamines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014700:Verapamil / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D010627:Phenethylamines; D013449:Sulfonamides; D014700:Verapamil; D008790:Metoprolol; D000638:Amiodarone; C063533:dofetilide