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Volume 347:1822-1823 December 5, 2002 Number 23 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited Related Article by The Atrial Fibrillation Follow-up Investigation of Rhythm Management (AFFIRM) Investigators Related Article by Van Gelder, I. C. PubMed Citation

The human heart has a complex electrical system that ensures coordinated propulsion of blood under a variety of physiologic conditions. Remarkable effort is expended with each heartbeat to maintain sinus rhythm. Arrhythmias are a system failure — and none more so than atrial fibrillation. It is the most common sustained arrhythmia, and people with atrial fibrillation have a mortality rate that is twice as high as that among people with sinus rhythm. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation increases with age, from 0.5 percent among young adults to more than 6 percent among those 80 years of age or older.

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