Short-term and long-term success of electrical cardioversion in atrial fibrillation in managed care system.

BACKGROUND: Initial success of electrical cardioversion (ECV) of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been reported in several studies as 50%-90%, of which only 50% patients remain in sinus rhythm (SR) at the end of one year. We conducted this study to see if outcomes of other trials are applicable in managed care setting. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study in 370 consecutive patients who underwent ECV for AF. They were reviewed for initial outcome of ECV and recurrence of AF after a successful ECV, with and without prophylactic antiarrhythmic drugs. RESULTS: Initial success of ECV for AF was 65.7%. At one year, 47% remained in SR. AF for