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See detailWhat are the thromboembolic risks of heart failure combined with chronic or paroxysmal AF?
Caldwell, Jane Cochrane; Mamas, Mamas A.; Neyses, Ludwig UL et al

in Journal of cardiac failure (2010), 16(4), 340-7

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are common disorders that frequently occur together and are associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism. This thromboembolic risk may ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are common disorders that frequently occur together and are associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism. This thromboembolic risk may be reduced by anticoagulation with warfarin but not without introducing new hemorrhagic risks. METHODS AND RESULTS: Current guidelines recommend the use of anticoagulation in patients with HF and chronic AF and paroxysmal AF (PAF) that is symptomatic or frequent and prolonged enough to be detected by electrocardiogram. However, the evidence supporting these recommendations is weak and does not take account of research indicating that the prothrombotic risk is higher in more severe HF. CONCLUSIONS: An area not addressed by current guidelines is anticoagulation in patients with HF and short, asymptomatic episodes of AF. These issues need to be resolved with further studies using implanted devices to detect such asymptomatic PAF. [less ▲]

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See detailAtrial fibrillation is under-recognized in chronic heart failure: insights from a heart failure cohort treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy.
Caldwell, Jane C.; Contractor, Hussain; Petkar, Sanjiv et al

in Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology (2009), 11(10), 1295-300

AIMS: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Under-detection of asymptomatic paroxysmal AF (PAF) underestimates the true burden of ... [more ▼]

AIMS: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Under-detection of asymptomatic paroxysmal AF (PAF) underestimates the true burden of AF in patients with CHF. We retrospectively studied the prevalence of asymptomatic PAF in 162 CHF patients through analysis of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device downloads to determine whether these episodes are associated with adverse outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: An episode of AF was defined by mode switching on CRT devices with an atrial rate >200 for at least 30 s. Of the 101 patients thought to be persistently in sinus rhythm (SR), 27% were found to have significant paroxysms of AF, with the cumulative percentage of time in the 'mode-switch mode' (i.e. the AF burden) of 1.6 +/- 0.9%. Mortality was 19.2% in patients with newly identified PAF with hospitalization and thrombo-embolism rates of 42.3 and 2.1%, respectively, compared with mortality of 10.4% with hospitalization and thrombo-embolism rates of 41.8 and 1.9%, respectively, in patients persistently in SR (P= NS). CONCLUSION: Analysis of data from CRT devices in a population of CHF patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction shows that a significant proportion of those perceived to be persistently in SR have undiagnosed paroxysms of AF but with relatively low burden. These episodes appear to be associated with a trend towards increased mortality but no effects on hospitalization or thrombo-embolism rates. [less ▲]

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See detailA meta-analysis of the prognostic significance of atrial fibrillation in chronic heart failure.
Mamas, Mamas A.; Caldwell, Jane C.; Chacko, Sanoj et al

in European journal of heart failure (2009), 11(7), 676-83

AIMS: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the commonest sustained arrhythmias in chronic heart failure (CHF), although the prognostic implications of the presence of AF in CHF remain controversial. We have ... [more ▼]

AIMS: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the commonest sustained arrhythmias in chronic heart failure (CHF), although the prognostic implications of the presence of AF in CHF remain controversial. We have therefore performed this meta-analysis to study the effects of the presence of AF on mortality in CHF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: A systematic MEDLINE search for all randomized trials and observational studies in which the influence of AF on CHF mortality was investigated and meta-analysis of the mortality data was performed. A total of 16 studies were identified of which 7 were randomized trials and 9 were observational studies including 30,248 and 23,721 patients, respectively. An adjusted meta-analysis of the data revealed that the presence of AF is associated with an adverse effect on total mortality with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.40 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32-1.48, P < 0.0001] in randomized trials and an OR of 1.14 (95% CI 1.03-1.26, P < 0.05) in observational studies. This increase in mortality associated with the presence of AF was observed in subgroups of CHF patients with both preserved and impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, meta-analysis of 16 studies involving 53,969 patients suggests that the presence of AF is associated with an adverse prognosis in CHF irrespective of LV systolic function. [less ▲]

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