Antiarrhythmic Drug Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation occurs in the context of several cardiac disease entities and may lead to significant symptoms. In general, the arrhythmia should initially (after initiation of an oral anticoagulation according to risk stratification schemes) be treated in an attempt to control ventricular rate. If this does not lead to sufficient relief of symptoms, further medical therapy that aims at restoration and maintenance of sinus rhythm should be applied. If there are still symptomatic relapses with such medication an ablation therapy should be considered.