Prognosis

• had an AF for more than 3 months ^a  
• have severe heart failure ^a
• are old ^a

and less likely if they have

• non-rheumatic mitral valve disease ^a

Why?

The duration of AF, severe heart failure and increasing age reduce the long-term success of cardioversion

Patient	Prognostic Factor	Outcome	CER	OR (95% CI)	NNF+ (95% CI)
cardioverted out of chronic AF a	AF for 3-35 months independent	chronic AF at 4 years	21%	2.1 (1.3 to 3.4)	7 (4 to 21)
	AF for 36 months or more  independent		3.0%	5.01 (3.0 to 8.3)	10 (6 to 18)
	NYHA class III independent		27%	1.8 (1.3 to 2.6)	8 (5 to 18)
	Aged >56 years independent		18%	1.5 (1.0 to 2.2)	15 (7 to inf)