Vorhofflimmern und Herzinsuffizienz

Atrial fibrillation and cardiac insufficiency: Atrial fibrillation and heart failure with left ventricular systolic dysfunction have emerged as a dual cardiovascular epidemic over the last decades. The steadily increasing number of heart failure patients is due partially to both the remarkable progress made in drug treatment and the rapid revascularisation of patients with acute myocardial infarction, who are thus able to live or survive longer. Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice, and its incidence increases with age. Although there is no causative relationship between them, these two clinical entities–due to common risk factors–often tend to occur together, influencing each other. When occurring in association with heart failure, atrial fibrillation is either likely related to enhanced mortality or, alternatively, a marker of advanced heart failure. This overview provides insights into how atrial fibrillation and heart failure impact on each other, in addition to therapeutic options such as, for example, the question as to the benefits of cardiac rhythm control in patients suffering from heart failure.