Skip Navigation


Europace Advance Access originally published online on January 18, 2009
Europace 2009 11(4):423-434; doi:10.1093/europace/eun369
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
11/4/423    most recent
eun369v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in Europace
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nabauer, M.
Right arrow Articles by Steinbeck, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nabauer, M.
Right arrow Articles by Steinbeck, G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2009. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal, Learned Society and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions©oxfordjournals.org.

Atrial Fibrillation Registry

The Registry of the German Competence NETwork on Atrial Fibrillation: patient characteristics and initial management

Michael Nabauer1,*, Andrea Gerth1, Tobias Limbourg2, Steffen Schneider2, Michael Oeff3, Paulus Kirchhof4, Andreas Goette5, Thorsten Lewalter6, Ursula Ravens7, Thomas Meinertz8, Günter Breithardt4 and Gerhard Steinbeck1,*

1 Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I, Campus Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Marchioninistr. 15, D-81377 Munich, Germany; 2 Institute for Research in Myocardial Infarction Ludwigshafen of the University of Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, Germany; 3 Department of Medicine I, Brandenburg Municipal Hospital, Brandenburg, Germany; 4 Department of Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany; 5 Division of Cardiology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany; 6 Department of Cardiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; 7 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical Faculty, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany; 8 Department of Cardiology/Angiology, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) enrolled in the Central Registry of the German Competence NETwork on Atrial Fibrillation (AFNET) and to assess current medical practice in patients treated at various levels of medical care in Germany.

Methods and results: From February 2004 to March 2006, 9582 ambulatory and hospitalized patients with ECG-documented AF were enrolled by 194 participating study centres from all levels of medical care in Germany. Clinical type of AF was reported as paroxysmal in 2893, persistent in 1873, and permanent in 3134 patients or classified as a first episode in 1035 patients. Predisposing conditions were common and present in 87.6% of the patients. Most patients were symptomatic with AF (75.1%). Rhythm control in persistent AF was provided to 53.4% of the symptomatic patients and to 47.8% of the patients without symptoms. Anticoagulation for stroke prevention was given to 71.4% of the patients considered eligible by applicable guidelines and to 48.4% of patients with low risk where guidelines do not recommend anticoagulation.

Conclusion: This registry provides insight into current medical care of patients with AF in Germany. The use of oral anticoagulation in eligible patients was among the highest reported, whereas decisions on rate and rhythm control often do not follow current recommendations.

Key Words: Atrial fibrillation, German AFNET Registry, Guidelines, Rate control, Rhythm control, Anticoagulation

* Corresponding author. Tel: +49 89 7095 2360, Fax: +49 89 7095 8870, Email: michael.nabauer{at}med.uni-muenchen.de (M.N.) or gerhard.steinbeck{at}med.uni-muenchen.de (G.S.)

Manuscript submitted 9 May 2008. Accepted after revision 5 December 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?

Related articles in Europace:

Comprehensive upstream treatment for atrial fibrillation, when and how?
Ron Pisters, Robby Nieuwlaat, Cees B. de Vos, and Harry J. Crijns
Europace 2009 11: 397-399. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Heart JHome page
P. Kirchhof, J. Bax, C. Blomstrom-Lundquist, H. Calkins, A. J. Camm, R. Cappato, F. Cosio, H. Crijns, H.-C. Diener, A. Goette, et al.
Early and comprehensive management of atrial fibrillation: executive summary of the proceedings from the 2nd AFNET-EHRA consensus conference 'research perspectives in AF'
Eur. Heart J., December 2, 2009; 30(24): 2969 - 2980.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EuropaceHome page
P. Kirchhof, J. Bax, C. Blomstrom-Lundquist, H. Calkins, A. J. Camm, R. Cappato, F. Cosio, H. Crijns, H.-C. Diener, A. Goette, et al.
Early and comprehensive management of atrial fibrillation: Proceedings from the 2nd AFNET/EHRA consensus conference on atrial fibrillation entitled 'research perspectives in atrial fibrillation'
Europace, July 1, 2009; 11(7): 860 - 885.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EuropaceHome page
F. Marin, P. Kirchhof, and G. Y.H. Lip
Antithrombotic therapy use for patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: new data in an area of limited evidence
Europace, July 1, 2009; 11(7): 842 - 843.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EuropaceHome page
R. Pisters, R. Nieuwlaat, C. B. de Vos, and H. J. Crijns
Comprehensive upstream treatment for atrial fibrillation, when and how?
Europace, April 1, 2009; 11(4): 397 - 399.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.