2012 focused update of the ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation: An update of the 2010 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation * Developed with the special contribution of the European Heart Rhythm Association.

The current estimate of the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the developed world is approximately 1.5–2% of the general population, with the average age of patients with this condition steadily rising, such that it now averages between 75 and 85 years. The arrhythmia is associated with a five-fold risk of stroke and a three-fold incidence of congestive heart failure, and higher mortality. Hospitalization of patients with AF is also very common. This arrhythmia is a major cardiovascular challenge in modern society and its medical, social and economic aspects are all set to worsen over the coming decades. Fortunately a number of valuable treatments have been devised in recent years that may offer some solution to this problem. In 2010, when the ESC Guidelines for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation were first issued,1 it was already realized that an update would be necessary in 2012