Does a strategy of ventricular rate control improve clinical outcomes compared to maintaining sinus rhythm in patients with persistent or recurrent atrial fibrillation?
Rate control is at least equivalent to rhythm control for preventing clinical outcomes in patients with persistent or recurrent atrial fibrillation.
In patients with persistent AF or with AF that is likely to be recurrent, a strategy of ventricular rate control, in combination with anticoagulation in appropriate patients, appears to be at least equivalent to a strategy of maintaining sinus rhythm by using currently available antiarrhythmic drugs in preventing clinical outcomes.
Simon de Denus (Mon,) studied this question.