'Medical University Prof. Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov - Varna'
Doi
Abstract
The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increases with aging. It is associated with serious health consequences. The degenerative changes and the comorbidities result in anatomical substrate for this arrhythmia. Patients over 65 years old have higher embolic risk. Prescription of non-vitamin K antagonists is recommended after evaluation of the hemorrhagic risk as well. The preferred strategy – rhythm or rate control is selected based on the patient’s characteristics. Rhythm control is performed by electrical cardioversion, pharmacological cardioversion or ablation. For rate control, beta-blockers are mostly recommended