RT Journal
A1 Deo R, Varosy PD
T1 Invited commentary—global arrhythmia burden: The public health implications of the rise in atrial fibrillation comment on “the increasing burden of atrial fibrillation compared with heart failure and myocardial infarction”
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2012
FD May 14
VO 172
IS 9
SP 741
OP 742
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1294
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1294
AB 
Several recent studies have noted a rise in the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF). The population burden of AF is expected to double over the next 40 years and will likely affect between 6 to 12 million Americans by 2050.1- 3 In this issue of the Archives, Wong and colleagues4 confirm that this phenomenon is not limited to the United States. Using administrative data, these investigators demonstrate that the number of hospitalizations for AF in Australia tripled over a 15-year period between 1993 and 2007. In comparison, the number of hospitalizations for myocardial infarction and heart failure increased only modestly during this time.