Advances in modeling and characterization of atrial arrhythmias

Abstract

Atrial arrhythmias (AA) represent a common health problem in adults and may appear as a consequence of cardiac interventions as well as without any associated cardiac disease. In this respect, atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and accounts for one third of the hospitalizations caused by car- diac rhythm disturbances. Atrial arrhythmias are associated with increased risk of stroke, heart failure and mortality. The mech- anisms leading to the initiation, maintenance and termination of AA have been under intensive investigation in recent years, with an important contribution of signal analysis. Nevertheless much research remains to be done on modeling, signal process- ing techniques and computational methods in order to optimize AA diagnosis and treatment.