24 August - Atrial Fibrillation

Here is the article I mentioned on care of patients with atrial fibrillation:

ACP InTheClinic Atrial Fibrillation 2010 update.  Has links to a slideset for use in student teaching as well.

There is also this supplementary toolkit with info on quality measures, guidelines for newly diagnosed a-fib, and patient information material.

You need to be familiar with the findings and limitations of the AFFIRM study, which showed equivalent outcomes between rate and rhythm control strategies, with a potential survival advantage to rate control due to avoidance of antiarrhythmic drug toxicity. 

Also know the results and implications of the RE-LY trial of dabigatran in atrial fibrillation, published in 2009 in NEJM.