Atrial Fibrillation

1 The Cardiac Conducting System and Its Autonomic Control.- Anatomy of the Conducting System.- Autonomic Innervation of the Heart.- 2 The Pathophysiology of Atrial Fibrillation.- Pathology.- The Electrophysiology of Atrial Fibrillation.- The Ventricular Response in Atrial Fibrillation.- The Role of the Autonomic Nervous System in Atrial Fibrillation.- Fibrillatory Waves in Atrial Fibrillation.- The Brody Phenomenon in Atrial Fibrillation.- The QT Interval in Atrial Fibrillation.- Atrial Fibrillation and the Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.- Aberration in Atrial Fibrillation.- 3 Models of the Atrioventricular Node.- The Electrophysiological Model of the Atrioventricular Node.- Analogue Models of the Atrioventricular Node.- Mathematical Models of the Atrioventricular Node in Atrial Fibrillation.- The Atrioventricular Node as a Biological Oscillator.- More Electrophysiological Phenomena: Ventricular Extrasystoles.- Phase Resetting: An Achilles Heel.- 4 The Measurement of Cardiac Output in Sinus Rhythm and Atrial Fibrillation.- Assessment of Cardiac Function.- The Assessment of Cardiovascular Function.- Measuring Volumetric Cardiac Output by the Fick Method..- The Indirect Fick Technique.- Thermodilution.- Reproducibility of Thermodilution.- Measurement of Cardiac Output by Echocardiography and Doppler Ultrasound.- Linear Cardiac Output.- Expectations of Linear Cardiac Output.- Comparison between Thermodilution and Doppler Ultrasound.- Application of Linear Cardiac Output Measurement to Atrial Fibrillation.- Average Stroke and Minute Distance in Atrial Fibrillation.- Beat-to-Beat Measurement of Stroke Output.- 5 The Haemodynamics of Atrial Fibrillation: The Development of a Model of Left Ventricular Function.- The Relationship Between Time and Volume of the Pulse.- Derivation of a Mathematical Model of Left Ventricular Function.- The Physiological Basis for the Mathematical Model of Left Ventricular Function.- Application of the Mathematical Model of Left Ventricular Function.- Haemodynamic Consequences of Atrial Fibrillation.- Endocrine Consequences of Atrial Fibrillation.- 6 The Haemodynamics of Atrial Fibrillation: The Effect of Ventricular Rate on Cardiac Output.- Further Information from Multiple Regression Analysis.- The Ventricular Rate for Maximum Cardiac Output.- What is Meant by “Control” of Ventricular Rate?.- 7 The Use of the Haemodynamic Model of Atrial Fibrillation for Evaluating Drug Action.- More Haemodynamic Profiles.- Additional Haemodynamic Data Derived from Stroke Distance.- A Pilot Study of the Effect of Enoximone in Atrial Fibrillation.- A Placebo Controlled Trial of Enoximone and Digoxin in Atrial Fibrillation.- Conclusions.- 8 The Autonomic Control of Ventricular Rate in Atrial Fibrillation.- Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia.- Measurement of Baroreflex Function.- A Systems Approach to Heart Rate Control.- Conclusions.- 9 Clinical Aspects of Atrial Fibrillation.- Epidemiology.- Aetiology.- Thromboembolism.- 10 The Management of Atrial Fibrillation.- Presentation.- Control of Ventricular Rate.- Cardioversion.- Chemical Cardioversion and Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation.- Anticoagulant Therapy.- The Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.- New and Experimental Techniques in Atrial Fibrillation Pacing.- Appendix. A Simple Computer Model of the Electrophysiological System of the Heart, Considering the Sinoatrial and Atrioventricular Nodes as Sine Wave Oscillators.