Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF), defined as the occurrence of new-onset AF
in the perioperative setting, is a common complication occurring in up to 3% of patients
undergoing non-cardiothoracic procedures and in 30-50% of patients undergoing cardiothoracic
procedures.[
[1]
] While a subset of patients with POAF will subsequently develop cardiorespiratory
symptoms or hemodynamic instability,[
[2]
] most episodes of POAF are brief, self-limited, and asymptomatic. There are two key
questions relating to POAF that remain unanswered: (i) to what extent is POAF associated
with long-term clinical consequences, primarily stroke; and (ii) does anticoagulation
provide therapeutic benefit to mitigate such risk?To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 03, 2021
Accepted:
January 21,
2021
Received:
January 19,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
