Atrial High Rate Episodes and the Risk of Ventricular Arrhythmias Correlation or Causation?

摘要

Prevalent in over one-half of patients, atrial fibrillation (AF) is a well-recognized risk feature for the development of heart failure (HF) and also a consequence of the same disease (2). Associated with an increased risk of mortality, the mode of death among patients with AF and systolic HF is often attributed to nonarrhythmic causes, including progression of pump failure, cerebrovascu-lar events, and increased risk of myocardial infarction. Sudden cardiac death from ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) are also common in this group, associated with mortality in 7% to 15% of patients (3,4), although the interaction between AF and subsequent VA remains uncertain.