Tom Nolan’s research reviews—19 October 2023

Rhythm and reviewsBack in those dark early days of my medical career it seemed that inpatients developed atrial fibrillation on a daily basis, and much time was spent stressing about zigzagging INRs. When a patient’s underlying illness improved, often the atrial fibrillation resolved, but patients were still discharged with their yellow books and the promise of a call from the anticoagulation clinic. But does transient atrial fibrillation during a hospital admission need the same management as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, with lifelong anticoagulation?A new cohort study matched people admitted to hospital for non-cardiac surgery or medical illness who had transient new-onset atrial fibrillation with inpatients of the same age and sex on the same ward who didn’t develop atrial fibrillation during their admission. Each had a 14 day electrocardiogram (ECG) at one and six months, and a 12 lead ECG after 12 months. The recurrence rate for the 139 people who…
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