Atrial Fibrillation: An Inflammatory Disease or a Conformational Disorder?

摘要

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is known to cause significant changes in atrial architecture and atrial electrophysiology. ' Pre-existing morphological alterations can provide an electrophysiologic substrate, which increases the likelihood of AF. Such structural remodelling processes encompass degenerative tissue changes like interstitial fibrosis and amyloidosis, which occur in the myocardium, whereas inflammatory changes are also present at the level of the atrial endocardium. True inflammation (eg, invasion of inflammatory cells) is rarely seen in fibrillating atria.