title: Atrial fibrillation: pathophysiology and current therapy.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation is a common cardiac arrhythmia with rapid and irregular atrial activity. Instead of uniformly contracting as one chamber, the atrial compartment fibrillates. Several studies have demonstrated that this arrhythmia contributes substantially to cardiac morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this review is to describe the pathophysiology and clinical management of this arrhythmia.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Cardiologique du Haut-Lévêque and the Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II, France. mshinsuke@k3.dion.ne.jp
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Ashok J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scherr
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haïssaguerre
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*