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.

Key words::

• Antiarrhythmic drug
• therapy
• atrial fibrillation
• catheter ablation
• management
• pathophysiology

Declaration of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest and have received no payment in preparation of this manuscript.