• Andrea Ballatore, Mario Matta, Andrea Saglietto, Paolo Desalvo, Pier Paolo Bocchino, Fiorenzo Gaita, Gaetano Maria De Ferrari, and Matteo Anselmino.
• Division of Cardiology, "Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino" Hospital, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2019 Aug 18; 55 (8).

AbstractAtrial Fibrillation (AF) may be diagnosed due to symptoms, or it may be found as an incidental electrocardiogram (ECG) finding, or by implanted devices recordings in asymptomatic patients. While anticoagulation, according to individual risk profile, has proven definitely beneficial in terms of prognosis, rhythm control strategies only demonstrated consistent benefits in terms of quality of life. In fact, evidence collected by observational data showed significant benefits in terms of mortality, stroke incidence, and prevention of cognitive impairment for patients referred to AF catheter ablation compared to those medically treated, however randomized trials failed to confirm such results. The aims of this review are to summarize current evidence regarding the treatment specifically of subclinical and asymptomatic AF, to discuss potential benefits of rhythm control therapy, and to highlight unclear areas.

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