الفهرس 
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Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents a major clinical
problem in everyday practice. AF is the most common
sustained arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice,
affecting approximately 0.9% of the population. The
prevalence of AF is strongly age-dependent, affecting
approximately 1% of persons aged ≤65 years and 5% of
individuals older than 65 years.
AF is also associated with an increase in the relative
risk of mortality, ranging from 1.3 to 2.34, independent
of other risk factors, as well as an increasing morbidity
and adversely affects quality of life.
In particular, patients who present with stroke in AF
have a considerably worse outcome, defined by a
higher mortality, morbidity, and longer hospital stays
compared with patients who have a stroke in the
absence of AF. Even patients with paroxysmal and
persistent AF have a risk of stroke that is similar to
patients with permanent AF.