Use of Transesophageal Echocardiography to Guide Cardioversion in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice, with an overall prevalence of 0.4 percent in the general population 1 – 4 ; it affects 2.2 million people in the United States. 3 , 5 Electrical cardioversion is often used to restore sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation, but the procedure is associated with an increased risk of stroke, which may result if left atrial thrombi are dislodged when sinus rhythm is restored. 6 – 9 The conventional strategy for anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation of prolonged duration (longer than two days) calls for three weeks of empirical anticoagulant treatment . . .