Cardiovascular Genetics Center, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain.
Europace. 2009 Oct;11(10):1267-71. doi: 10.1093/europace/eup199. Epub 2009 Aug 6.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains one of the most common and challenging arrhythmias encountered in clinical practice. While familial forms had remained mostly unknown, in this last decade, the identification of genetic defects, which mainly affect ionic currents, has been the key in our understanding of the pathophysiology of the inherited form of the arrhythmia. Despite the limited prevalence of the familial disease, elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that cause familial AF will likely facilitate understanding of the more common acquired forms of the disease. Therefore, as data keep unravelling, clinicians can expect that soon better therapeutic and preventive options for this arrhythmia will emerge from the discoveries in basic science.
心房颤动（AF）仍然是临床实践中最常见和最具挑战性的心律失常之一。虽然家族性形式的房颤在很大程度上仍然未知，但在过去的十年中，识别主要影响离子电流的遗传缺陷一直是我们理解心律失常遗传形式病理生理学的关键。尽管家族性疾病的患病率有限，但阐明导致家族性房颤的分子机制很可能有助于理解更常见的获得性房颤形式。因此，随着数据的不断揭示，临床医生可以预期，基础科学的发现将很快为这种心律失常带来更好的治疗和预防选择。
