Rate-Control Treatment and Mortality in Atrial Fibrillation

Rate-control treatment and mortality in atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND Current American and European guidelines emphasize the importance of rate-control treatments in treating atrial fibrillation with a Class I recommendation, although data on the survival benefits of rate control are lacking. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether patients receiving rate-control drugs had a better prognosis compared with those without rate-control tre...

Rate control in atrial fibrillation.

Untreated atrial fibrillation is usually associated with a rapid, irregular ventricular response and is often accompanied by symptoms including palpitations, fatigue, dyspnea, and dizziness. It is widely accepted that slowing the ventricular response, both at rest and during activity, with the use of drugs that prolong the refractory period of the atrioventricular (AV) node (so-called rate-cont...

Rate control in atrial fibrillation.

Control of the heart rate (rate control) is central to atrial fibrillation management, even for patients who ultimately require control of the rhythm. We review heart rate control in patients with atrial fibrillation, including the rationale for the intervention, patient selection, and the treatments available. The choice of rate control depends on the symptoms and clinical characteristics of t...

Rate Control in Atrial Fibrillation: Avoiding Morbidity.

Rate versus rhythm control in atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether rate control is a viable initial treatment approach in persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) through the evaluation of recently completed trials comparing rate and rhythm control. DATA SOURCES Biomedical literature was obtained through MEDLINE (1966-December 2003) and the Iowa database. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION Articles identified from the biomedical ...