Skip Navigation



European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on December 24, 2008
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehn579
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
30/9/1038    most recent
ehn579v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schmitt, J.
Right arrow Articles by Hohnloser, S. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schmitt, J.
Right arrow Articles by Hohnloser, S. H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Atrial fibrillation in acute myocardial infarction: a systematic review of the incidence, clinical features and prognostic implications

Joern Schmitt1,{dagger}, Gabor Duray1,{dagger}, Bernard J. Gersh2 and Stefan H. Hohnloser1,*

1 Section of Electrophysiology, Division of Cardiology, J.W. Goethe University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, D 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
2 Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

Received 28 July 2008; revised 1 November 2008; accepted 4 December 2008.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +49 69 6301 7404, Fax: +49 69 6301 7017, Email: hohnloser{at}em.uni-frankfurt.de

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most commonly encountered clinical arrhythmia, often complicates acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with an incidence between 6 and 21%. Predictors of the arrhythmia in the setting of AMI include advanced age, heart failure symptoms, and depressed left ventricular function. The bulk of evidence demonstrates that AF in patients hospitalized for AMI has serious adverse prognostic implications regarding in-hospital, but also long-term mortality. This seems to apply for all patient populations studied without significant differences related to the treatment of AMI (i.e. no reperfusion therapy vs. thrombolysis vs. percutaneous coronary intervention). Mortality is particularly high in patients who have congestive heart failure and/or a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Finally, there are persuasive data indicating that AF complicating AMI not only increases the risk for ischaemic stroke during hospitalization but also during follow-up. This seems to apply also for transient AF which has reversed back to sinus rhythm at the time of discharge. These observations emphasize the need for prospective studies evaluating optimal therapeutic approaches for patients with AMI complicated by AF.

Key Words: Atrial fibrillation • Acute myocardial infarction • Acute coronary syndrome • Anticoagulation

{dagger} Both authors contributed equally to this work.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Heart JHome page
R. Cappato
Atrial fibrillation complicating acute myocardial infarction: how should it be interpreted and how should it be treated and prevented?
Eur. Heart J., May 1, 2009; 30(9): 1035 - 1037.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.