Causes
Cardiac causes
  • Hypertension
  • Heart failure*
  • Coronary artery disease with prior myocardial infarction
  • Left ventricular dysfunction (systolic and diastolic)*
  • Including hypertrophic, dilated, and restrictive cardiomyopathies
  • Valvular heart disease
  • Congenital heart disease* (early repair of atrial septal defect)
  • Pericardial disease
  • Postsurgical (particularly cardiac surgery)
  • Sick sinus syndrome
  • AF as a result of ventricular pacing*
  • Supraventricular tachycardia (including Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, atrial tachycardia, atrial flutter, or other)*
  • Genetic/familial
Noncardiac causes
  • Obstructive sleep apnea*
  • Obesity*
  • Excessive alcohol ingestion (acute or chronic)*
  • Hyperthyroidism*
  • Vagally mediated (ie, habitual aerobic training)*
  • Pulmonary disease (pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension)
Lone (idiopathic) AF

*Denotes cause for which treatment may prevent the development or recurrence of AF.