In patients with atrial fibrillation at intermediate risk for stroke, direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) therapy significantly reduced the 24-month risk of a composite of stroke, systemic embolism, major bleeding, or cardiovascular death compared with no anticoagulation. In the Korean multicenter, open-label, adjudicator-masked randomized trial, 1,803 patients with a CHA₂DS₂-VASc score […]
A sham-controlled randomized trial demonstrated that pulsed field ablation (PFA) markedly reduced atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence and burden while significantly improving quality of life and psychological distress compared with a sham procedure in highly symptomatic AF patients. In this single-blind study, 60 patients with severe AF-related quality-of-life impairment were randomized […]
A prospective US cohort study leveraging data from 3,477 participants (mean age 74.8 years; 61.5% female) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study has found that higher aldosterone-renin ratio (ARR) is independently associated with increased cardiovascular risk over nearly a decade of follow-up. Researchers measured serum aldosterone and renin […]
A contemporary review with meta-analysis demonstrated that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (ExCR) appears beneficial and safe for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The study analyzed data from 20 randomized clinical trials involving 2,039 participants with a mean follow-up of 11 months. ExCR did not significantly affect all-cause mortality (8.3% vs 6.0%; […]
A systematic review and prospective individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials supports early direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) initiation within 4 days for patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke without increasing bleeding risk. The analysis included four trials met inclusion […]
A Korean population-based study suggests an association between antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) and risk of pacemaker implantation or syncope in patients of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF). A total of 770,977 new-onset AF cases were identified from 2013 to 2019 and 142,141 patients were prescribed AADs within 1 year of AF diagnosis. […]
The US 2023 atrial fibrillation (AF) guideline emphasizes a rhythm control strategy and highlight the need for lifestyle and risk factor modification in addition to medical treatment. Key points including: The new proposed classification of AF by 4 stages, recognizes AF as a disease continuum that requires a variety of […]
A longitudinal cohort and mendelian randomization study suggested there was a modest, but significant longitudinal and causal relationship between neuroticism and atrial fibrillation (AF). In 394,834 UK participants (mean age 56.3 years, 45.9% male), AF occurred in 23,509 (6.0%) during a 10-year follow-up. Based on the median summary score from […]