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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 May 9.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018 May 8;71(18):2041–2057. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.03.019

CENTRAL ILLUSTRATION. Effects of Aging on Cardiac Arrhythmias: Etiology, Clinical Presentation, and Management.

CENTRAL ILLUSTRATION

Aging leads to progressive degenerative changes of the contractile and conduction systems of the heart. Since the reparative process is slow, there is replacement fibrosis, which leads to structural and electrical conduction heterogeneity. Supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias are then triggered. Pharmacotherapy can be challenging due to a narrow therapeutic window and risk of toxicity. Elderly patients often have concomitant structural heart disease requiring transcatheter or surgical procedures, which can lead to new arrhythmias requiring catheter ablation or implantable devices. AF = atrial fibrillation; AV = atrioventricular; TAVR = transcatheter aortic valvular replacement.