1. COMMON CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIAS 2 the complex arrhythmias Mark Earley, St Bartholomew’s Hospital

2. Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

3. Paroxysmal AF

4. AF – modern terminology FIRST EPISODE of AF RECURRENT EPISODE of AF PAROXYSMAL AF PERSISTENT AF PERMANENT AFSINUS RHYTHM

5. AF - aetiology

6. AF – mechanism - chaos

7. Mechanism of AF: focal v re-entry FOCALRE-ENTRY (Circus movement) 1959-1964 Moe’s Hypothesis multiple random re-entry wavefronts

8. Mechanism - focal Spontaneous initiation of atrial fibrillation by ectopic beats originating in the pulmonary veins. NEJM 1998; 339:659-66

9. Mechanism of AF Focal ‘triggers’ Multiple wavefronts

10. Mechanism of AF PAROXYSMAL PERSISTENT PERMANENT

11. Preexcited AF