Atrial fibrillation in the aging heart: pharmacological therapy and catheter ablation in the elderly

The majority of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) seeking medical treatment are in the elderly age group and the management of these patients is often complicated by comorbidities, challenging the pharmacological management of these patients. Owing to hypertension, congestive heart failure, left ventricular hypertrophy and coronary artery disease, antiarrhythmic treatment often fails due to side effects, proarrhythmia or poor rhythm control. In recent years, radiofrequency catheter ablation has been widely performed as an effective treatment for recurrent, drug-refractory AF. However, few elderly patients were included in prior AF catheter ablation studies and the current guidelines for catheter ablation of AF recommend a conservative approach in the elderly population owing to the absence of clinical data. However, study results from our group and others suggest that catheter ablation is a safe and effective treatment for patients over the age of 65 years with symptomatic, drug-refractory AF and, therefore, patients should not be excluded from catheter ablation on the basis of age alone. In this article, we discuss the pharmacological (rhythm control, rate control and anticoagulation) and catheter management of AF in the elderly population.