Atrial fibrillation screening

Atrial Fibrillation Microchapters
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Differentiating Atrial Fibrillation from other Diseases
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Special Groups Postoperative AF Acute Myocardial Infarction Wolff-Parkinson-White Preexcitation Syndrome Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Hyperthyroidism Pulmonary Diseases Pregnancy ACS and/or PCI or valve intervention Heart failure
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Rate and Rhythm Control
Cardioversion Overview Electrical Cardioversion Pharmacological Cardioversion
Anticoagulation Overview Warfarin Converting from or to Warfarin Converting from or to Parenteral Anticoagulants Dabigatran
Maintenance of Sinus Rhythm
Surgery Catheter Ablation AV Nodal Ablation Surgical Ablation Cardiac Surgery
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Case #1
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Atrial fibrillation screening

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Screening for atrial fibrillation is generally not performed, although a study of routine pulse checks or electrocardiograms during routine office visits found that the annual rate of detection of atrial fibrillation in elderly patients improved from 1.04% to 1.63%. Identification of such patients for prophylactic anticoagulation might in turn reduce the risk of stroke in that age category.

The estimated sensitivity of the routine primary care visit in the detection of atrial fibrillation is 64%. This low sensitivity probably reflects the fact that the pulse is not being checked routinely or carefully.