Silent Atrial Fibrillation: Definition, Clarification, and Unanswered Issues

Silent cerebral infarction in chronic atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of stroke. In AF patients with acute stroke, cerebral computed tomography (CT) often reveals old asymptomatic infarcts. To investigate the frequency of such lesions, 29 AF patients and 29 controls in sinus rhythm without history of cerebrovascular disease were CT scanned. Fourteen patients with AF (48%) had abnormal CT scans with are...

Silent Atrial Fibrillation: A Critical Review.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) in the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic events. Silent AF is an asymptomatic form of AF incidentally diagnosed during a routine test or manifesting as an arrhythmia-related complication. Although recent trials have clearly demonstrated that patients with sub-clinical AF are at increased risk of stroke, the real i...

Gone fishing (for silent atrial fibrillation).

Current Issues in Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. It places an enormous burden on the patients, caregivers, and the society at large. While the main themes in the care of an AF patient have not changed over the years and continue to focus on stroke prevention, control of the ventricular, rate and rhythm maintenance, there have been a number of new developments in each of...

Atrial fibrillation and silent stroke: links, risks, and challenges

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, with a projected number of 1 million affected subjects in Germany. Changes in age structure of the Western population allow for the assumption that the number of concerned people is going to be doubled, maybe tripled, by the year 2050. Large epidemiological investigations showed that AF leads to a significant increase in mortality ...