title: Developmental and genetic aspects of atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. The abnormal rhythm is associated not only with a variety of symptoms, such as palpitations, dizziness, or shortness of breath, but also with increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and mortality. A genetic predisposition is suggested by the fact that the relative risk for the development of AF is estimated at 85% in individuals with at least one parent with a history of AF. Current therapeutic strategies include control of rate or rhythm with medication and catheter ablation procedures. Especially in the pathophysiology of paroxysmal AF, ectopic electrical activity originating in the myocardial sleeves surrounding the pulmonary veins is considered causal. In these cases, ablation is applied to isolate the pulmonary venous myocardium from the remainder of the left atrial myocardium. Other recent evidence has shown that genetic and developmental defects can be involved in the development of AF. In this review, it is our aim to discuss the possible underlying causes of AF from a combined genetic and cardiac developmental view.
authors.affiliation: Heart Failure Research Center, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. a.v.postma@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Alex V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Postma
authors.forename: Lukas R C
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.forename: Alexandre T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Soufan
authors.forename: Antoon F M
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Moorman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000196:embryology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D016275:Atrial Function / Q000235:genetics; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010375:Pedigree; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents