Role Of Inflammation In Early AF Recurrence After PV Isolation

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in the mechanistic role of inflammation in the initiation, maintenance, and perpetuation of atrial fibrillation (AF). Several studies have focused on inflammatory biomarkers and acute-phase proteins to further understand the inflammatory milieu in relation to AF. These studies have demonstrated that both interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are elevated in paroxysmal and persistent AF. Chung et al. demonstrated an association between elevated CRP levels and AF in a nonoperative setting. In this study, CRP levels were more than 2-fold higher in patients with AF than in control subjects. Moreover, patients with persistent AF had higher CRP levels than patients with paroxysmal AF, suggesting that inflammation may be more relevant to promoting AF maintenance than its initiation.