Atrial fibrillation as prognostic factor of myocardial infarction and/or acute heart failure

Abstract

Abstract Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a supraventricular tachyarrhythmia characterized by uncoordinated atrial activation with consequence deterioration of atrial mechanical function. It has an incidence of approximately 6 million people in European Union as a result of the aging population and affects about 1 percent of patients younger than 60 years and about 8 percent of patients older than 80 years [2, 10]. AF is also the most common supraventricular arrhythmia in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and/or acute heart failure (AHF), complicating its course with an incidence between 6–21% in hospitalized patients with MI although recent advances in pharmacological treatment of myocardial infarction has probably changed the impact of this arrhythmia and vice versa. These two diseases (AF + MI) are a growing health concern all over the world and when one considers the occurrence of these two diseases simultaneously, the relevance of AF in the course of MI and vice versa cannot be overemphasized in cardiovascular health care and more importantly its treatment and prevention. Aim: This article therefore aims to correlate data from controlled studies to summarize the incidence of AF in MI and vice versa and the impact of pharmacotherapy. Data from our registry Brno (3502 patients with MI and/or AHF) show that AF is not a predictor of short-term mortality in patients with myocardial infarction and/or heart failure, but is a strong predictor of long-term mortality.