COMMON CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIAS 2 the complex arrhythmias Mark Earley, St Bartholomew’s Hospital
Atrial Fibrillation (AF)
Paroxysmal AF
AF – modern terminology FIRST EPISODE of AF RECURRENT EPISODE of AF PAROXYSMAL AF PERSISTENT AF PERMANENT AFSINUS RHYTHM
AF - aetiology
AF – mechanism - chaos
Mechanism of AF: focal v re-entry FOCALRE-ENTRY (Circus movement) Moe’s Hypothesis multiple random re-entry wavefronts
Mechanism - focal Spontaneous initiation of atrial fibrillation by ectopic beats originating in the pulmonary veins. NEJM 1998; 339:659-66
Mechanism of AF Focal ‘triggers’ Multiple wavefronts
Mechanism of AF PAROXYSMAL PERSISTENT PERMANENT
Preexcited AF