Atrial Fibrillation Mechanisms and Management

This comprehensive volume offers clinicians guidance on the management of atrial fibrillation, the commonest sustained disturbance of cardiac rhythm faced by physicians. Drs. Falk and Podrid have selected 21 of the world's foremost experts to discuss all aspects of this arrhythmia, from basic cellular electrophysiology, pathology, and epidemiology to the complex clinical decision involved in patient care. The contributors describe pharmacological, electrophysiological, and surgical therapies and address, in detail, the concerns most frequently arising in clinical practice - such as atrial fibrillation in the absence of overt cardiac disease, the efficacy and risks of antiarrhythmic therapy, control of the ventricular rate, proarrhythmic therapy, control of the ventricular rate, proarrhythmic responses to antiarrhythmic drugs, indications for anticoagulation therapy, and the management of refractory cases by surgery or ablation.