The impact of inflammation on the development, successful cardioversion, recurrence and/or perpetuation of atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice and contributes greatly to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In the recently published issue of International Journal of Cardiology, two papers have evaluated and discussed the role of inflammation in atrial fibrillation. In the first paper, Acevedo et al. [1] have measured C-reactive protein levels in patients with atrial fibrillation as a marker of inflammation and its relation with the perpetuation of arrhythmia.