FACTORS PREDICTING MAINTENANCE OF SINUS RHYTHM AFTER DIRECT-CURRENT CARDIOVERSION OF ATRIAL-FIBRILLATION AND FLUTTER - A REANALYSIS WITH RECENTLY ACQUIRED DATA
Do. Arnar et R. Danielsen, FACTORS PREDICTING MAINTENANCE OF SINUS RHYTHM AFTER DIRECT-CURRENT CARDIOVERSION OF ATRIAL-FIBRILLATION AND FLUTTER - A REANALYSIS WITH RECENTLY ACQUIRED DATA, Cardiology, 87(3), 1996, pp. 181-188
A prospective study was conducted to evaluate how many patients mainta
in normal sinus rhythm after direct current (DC) cardioversion of atri
al arrhythmias and to assess factors predictive of long-term success.
The study group consisted of 61 patients (45 men) aged 18-88 years (me
an age 66 +/- 11 years) who underwent cardioversion at our department
from October 1990 to June 1992. Prior to cardioversion, the patients'
medical history, medications, heart size on chest X ray, and echocardi
ographic findings were reviewed. Overall, 41 (67.2%) patients were in
atrial fibrillation, while 20 (32.8%) had atrial flutter. Only 15% of
the patients had valvular heart disease. Sinus rhythm was restored by
DC cardioversion in 47 (77%) patients, none of whom experienced an emb
olic event prior to discharge. Patients with atrial flutter had a high
er conversion rate (95%) than those in atrial fibrillation (68.3%; p =
0.024), and also patients with an arrhythmia for less than 1 week (94
.4%) compared to those with a longer or unknown duration (69.8%; p = 0
.047). The primary success rate was not influenced by heart size on ch
est X ray or echocardiographic variables. The study protocol aimed at
following up the patients for 1 year after cardioversion. Of the 47 pa
tients who converted to sinus rhythm data are available on 44 for a me
an follow-up of 11 +/- 3 months (range 1-14 months), at which time 25
(57%) still remained in sinus rhythm. Heart size on the chest X ray wa
s significantly increased in the group that did not maintain sinus rhy
thm (p = 0.03) and their left atrial size on echocardiography was slig
htly increased (p = 0.10). Patients who originally had atrial flutter
were more likely to remain in sinus rhythm than those who had been in
atrial fibrillation (p = 0.12), as did patients with an arrhythmia for
less than 1 week prior to cardioversion in comparison to those with a
longer or unknown duration (p = 0.11). Thus, in contrast to previous
reports, according to these recent data on a patient population with a
low prevalence of valvular heart disease, DC cardioversion can be att
empted in most patients with atrial tachyarrhythmias. Clinical factors
, heart size on chest X ray and echocardiographic findings should, how
ever, be considered before deciding to perform DC cardioversion.