Effect of amiodarone on dispersion of atrial refractoriness and cycle length in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Amiodarone is effective in preventing the recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardioversion (CV). Dispersion of atrial refractoriness may be relevant to the generation of AF. We designed a study to determine the electrophysiologic effects of amiodarone in patients with previous early recurrence of AF after CV.

Clinical evaluation of a policy of early repeated internal cardioversion for recurrence of atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: The clinical value of cardioversion (CV) of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) is limited by the high rate of early AF recurrence, which may be related to the persistence of atrial electrical remodeling. We examined the hypothesis that the likelihood of maintaining sinus rhythm after CV of persistent AF is significantly enhanced by a policy of early repeated CV.

Methods And Results: Fifty-nine patients with persistent AF underwent internal CV (CV 1).