Is Echocardiography Useful to Predict Successful Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation and Long-Term Maintenance of Sinus Rhythm?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequently sustained arrhythmia; it occurs in 2%–4% of people aged over 60 years and in almost 9% of octogenarians [1]. People affected by AF exhibit a higher risk of heart failure and, above all, of embolic events [2]. It is not definitively established whether sinus rhythm restoration and maintenance warrant a better prognosis than chronic persistence of the arrhythmia combined with optimal control of the heart rate and anticoagulation therapy to prevent thromboembolism [3], but nevertheless in common clinical practice cardioversion is proposed in order to improve cardiac function and survival [4].