The Dynamics of Human Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an enormous public health problem in the United States, affecting 2-5 million Americans and causing rapid heart beats, stroke, heart failure or death. In this project, the applicant will develop a novel framework to better understand human AF that builds on agreement between several concepts for the disease. The applicant will develop strategies to identify AF patients who will best respond to each of several therapies, to guide personalized therapy.
• referred for ablation or Maze surgery at Stanford Medicine for persistent AF (i.e. which requires cardioversion to terminate and/or lasts \>7 days)
• Per our clinical practice and guidelines (Calkins et al., Heart Rhythm 2018), patients will have failed or be intolerant of \>or= 1 anti-arrhythmic drug. Patients after Maze surgery typically have failed prior endocardial ablation.