AF causes

• Cardiac causes:

  • Hypertension - most common risk factor
  • Ischaemia heart disease
  • Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction
  • Structural pathology (most commonly mitral valve pathology)
  • Congenital heart disease
  • Atrial or ventricular dilation/hypertrophy
  • Pre-excitation syndrome e.g. WPW
  • Sick sinus syndrome
  • Inflammatory conditions e.g. pericarditis or myocarditis
  • Infiltrative conditions e.g. amyloidosis
• Non-cardiac causes:

  • Acute infection
  • Electrolyte imbalances e.g. hypokalaemia or hyponatraemia
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Thyrotoxicosis or hypothyroidism
  • Diabetes mellitus
• Numerous conditions can increase the substrate and/or triggers for AF. They typically cause the atria to stretch, changing their electrical properties. This increases the likelihood that an atrial ectopic triggers AF, and the atria sustain it