Summary

Many patients utilizing pacemakers (PMs) and implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) who have only short atrial tachycardia/atrial fibrillation (AT/AF) are not at higher risk of adverse events than those without AT/AF over the study period of approximately 24 months. However, long AT/AF episodes are associated with adverse clinical events, including hospitalization for clinical AT/AF and all-cause death in patients with ICDs. This article discusses the outcomes from the Registry of Atrial Tachycardia and Atrial Fibrillation Episodes in the Cardiac Rhythm Management Device Population [RATE; NCT00837798].