Background Atrial fi brillation is an important cause of
morbidity and
mortality worldwide, but scant data are availablefor long-term outcomes in individuals outside
North America or
Europe, especially in
primary care settings.
Methods We did a
cohort study using a prospective
registry of
patients in 47 countries
who presented to a
hospital emergency department with atrial fi brillation or atrial fl utter as a primary or
secondary diagnosis. 15 400 individuals were enrolled to determine the occurrence of
death and
strokes (the primary outcomes) in this cohort over eight geographical regions (
North America,
western Europe, and
Australia;
South America;
eastern Europe; the Middle Eastand Mediterrane an crescent;
sub-Saharan Africa;
India;
China; and
southeast Asia) 1 year after attending the
emergency department.
Patients from
North America,
western Europe, and
Australia were used as the reference
population, and compared with
patients from the other seven regions...