Secondary Precipitants of Atrial Fibrillation and Anticoagulation Therapy.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) commonly occurs in the setting of acute conditions. We aimed to identify the acute conditions associated with secondary AF (AF precipitants) including pneumonia/sepsis, pneumothorax, respiratory failure, myocarditis, pericarditis, alcohol intoxication, thyrotoxicosis, cardiothoracic surgery, other surgery in patients with newly diagnosed AF and determine their association with subsequent oral anticoagulant use. Methods and Results We assembled a cohort of patients in the UMass Memorial Healthcare system with a new diagnosis of AF with and without AF precipitants.