Should Transesophageal Echocardiography Be Used to Guide Cardioversion?

Atrial fibrillation occurs in 0.3 to 0.4 percent of the adult population,1 and its prevalence increases with age. It is found in 2 to 4 percent of people over 60 years of age,2 and in those over 75 years, a prevalence of 11.6 percent has been reported3. It has been estimated that more than 1 million Americans have atrial fibrillation4; about 80 percent of these have coexisting cardiovascular disease. As the incidence of rheumatic heart disease has declined, hypertensive and coronary heart disease, cardiac failure, and diabetes have become the predominant disorders underlying atrial fibrillation1.The mortality . . .