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Familial Atrial Fibrillation and Standstill

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Electrical Diseases of the Heart

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Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common arrhythmia, is associated with an unfavorable prognosis.1,2 The majority of patients have AF in association with underlying (cardiac) diseases.3 In 15–30% of the patients, however, a known etiology is absent.4,5 This condition is called lone AF. Some of these patients have a positive family history for AF and may have a genetic cause or predisposition.6 Atrial fibrillation as an inherited disease was first reported in 1943.7 Darbar et al.8 observed that familial AF is more common than previously recognized. Of the 914 patients with AF, 36% had lone AF. A positive family history for AF was present in 15% of these lone AF patients (5% of all AF patients).8,9

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology Thoraxcenter, University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Bas A. Schoonderwoerd MD, PhD & sabelle C. van Gelder MD, PhD (Cardiologist)

  2. Department of Clinical Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    J. Peter van Tintelen MD (Clinical Geneticist)

  3. Department of Cardiology, Thoraxcenter University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Ans C.P. Wiesfeld MD, PhD

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  1. Bas A. Schoonderwoerd MD, PhD
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  2. J. Peter van Tintelen MD
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  3. Ans C.P. Wiesfeld MD, PhD
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  4. sabelle C. van Gelder MD, PhD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Ridgefield, CT, USA

    Ihor Gussak MD, PhD, FACC (Deputy Therapeutic Area Head, Professor of Pharmacology) (Deputy Therapeutic Area Head, Professor of Pharmacology)

  2. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Bridgewater, NJ, USA

    Ihor Gussak MD, PhD, FACC (Deputy Therapeutic Area Head, Professor of Pharmacology) (Deputy Therapeutic Area Head, Professor of Pharmacology)

  3. Gordon K. Moe Scholar Masonic Medical Research Laboratory, Utica, NY, USA

    Charles Antzelevitch PhD, FACC, FAHA, FHRS (Executive Director and Director of Research) (Executive Director and Director of Research)

  4. Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Charles Antzelevitch PhD, FACC, FAHA, FHRS (Executive Director and Director of Research) (Executive Director and Director of Research)

  5. Heart Failure Research Center Department of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Arthur A. M. Wilde MD, PhD, FESC, FAHA (Professor) (Professor)

  6. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA

    Paul A. Friedman MD (Professor of Medicine) & Michael J. Ackerman MD, PhD, FACC (Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Pharmacology, Consultant Cardiovascular Disease and Pediatric Cardiology, Director Long QT Syndrome Clinic and the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics) (Professor of Medicine) &  (Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Pharmacology, Consultant Cardiovascular Disease and Pediatric Cardiology, Director Long QT Syndrome Clinic and the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics)

  7. Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA

    Win-Kuang Shen MD (Consultant, Professor of Medicine) (Consultant, Professor of Medicine)

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Schoonderwoerd, B.A., van Tintelen, J.P., Wiesfeld, A.C., van Gelder, s.C. (2008). Familial Atrial Fibrillation and Standstill. In: Gussak, I., Antzelevitch, C., Wilde, A.A.M., Friedman, P.A., Ackerman, M.J., Shen, WK. (eds) Electrical Diseases of the Heart. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-854-8_40

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-854-8_40

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