Characterization of different subsets of atrial fibrillation in general practice in France: the ALFA study. The College of French Cardiologists.

Background: The clinical presentation and causes of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the 1990s may differ from AF seen 2 to 3 decades ago. It was the objective of this prospective study to characterize various clinical presentations and underlying conditions of patients with AF observed in general practice in France.

Methods And Results: The study population comprised 756 patients (19 to 95 years of age) with electrocardiographically documented AF subdivided into paroxysmal (<7 days), chronic (last episode >1 month) and recent onset AF(persistent >7 days and<1 month).

[Comparative study of cibenzoline and flecainide by oral route for preventing recurrence of paroxysmal atrial tachyarrhythmias].

Although paroxysmal atrial arrhythmias are the commonest form of arrhythmia, their therapeutic management still remains controversial. Seventy one patients were included in a multicentre, randomized double-blind, double-placebo study, in parallel groups (37 in group C and 34 in group F) to compare the efficacy of cibenzoline (C) and flecainide (F), administered orally, in the prevention of recurrent atrial arrhythmia. The arrhythmia usually consisted of atrial fibrillation (n = 65), while 6 patients presented with paroxysmal atrial flutter.

Preliminary evaluation of a dual chamber pacemaker with bradycardia diagnostic functions.

Unexplained syncope is the main indication for the implantation of a diagnostic pacemaker. Studies on those implanted have shown that in patients with unexplained syncope, the diagnosis of paroxysmal bradycardia was feasible and reliable. The present study was designed to evaluate a new bradycardia diagnosis algorithm, loaded in a dual chamber pacemaker, in 24 patients considered as candidates for diagnostic pacemakers.

[Nosology of atrial fibrillation. Attempt at clarification].

Atrial fibrillation is the subject of much clinical interest as it is the arrhythmia responsible for the greatest number of hospital admissions. The arrhythmia working group of the French Society of Cardiology held a symposium on atrial fibrillation in order to establish certain definitions and to assess the value of a classification of atrial fibrillation. This was also the occasion to review a number of known facts and points which remain obscure, concerning this common arrhythmia.