Key result
Oxidative stress is present in the early hours of atrial fibrillation and persists after arrhythmia discontinuation, suggesting it plays a role in AF initiation and recurrence.
The paper highlights the growing incidence of atrial fibrillation and the need to focus on underlying mechanisms, such as oxidative status, due to the inadequate efficacy of current treatments.
May implicate oxidative stress in AF onset and recurrence; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
According to the recent epidemiological reports atrial fibrillation (AF) affects about 6 million people in Europe and the number is expected to double in the next 50 years (1). Because of the growing incidence, AF is considered as `the new epidemic` (2). Despite being recognized as far back as ancient Greece and China, nowadays AF is a real challenge for cardiologists. The numerous antiarrhythmic drugs, namely blockers of !-adrenergic receptors and cardiac ion channels, as well as catheter ablation have inadequate efficacy on AF recurrences and progressive clinical course. Main limitation for these results is the poor understanding of arrhythmia pathogenesis (3). Thus, in the last years, the efforts of scientists are increasingly focused on the underlying mechanisms concerning AF initiation and recurrences.
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Zhaneta Georgieva (2014) conducted an editorial in Atrial fibrillation. Oxidative stress was evaluated. Oxidative stress is present in the early hours of atrial fibrillation and persists after arrhythmia discontinuation, suggesting it plays a role in AF initiation and recurrence.
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