Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia causing patients to seek medical treatment. It has been traditionally associated with underlying pathophysiology such as hypertension, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, hyperthyroidism, valvular disease, excessive alcohol intake, advanced age, congestive heart failure, left ventricular hypertrophy, and left atrial enlargement. A subgroup of patients has atrial fibrillation without a pathophysiological cause. This subgroup is known as lone atrial fibrillation.

         Lone atrial fibrillation is responsible for 50% of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and 15-20% of chronic atrial fibrillation. Patients with lone atrial fibrillation have a higher risk for sudden death than the general population. While this fact is troublesome, increasing nurses’ knowledge of lone atrial fibrillation can impact health promotion, screening and prevention of illness in primary care settings.

       Caffeine, stress, gastroesophageal reflux, high body mass index, lifetime sports practice exceeding 1500 hours, short QT interval, sleeping, eating, inflammation, and genetics have all been identified as risk factors for lone atrial fibrillation. Many of these factors may be managed by the alert nurse through education and lifestyle interventions.Learner Objectives

         At the end of this presentation the learner will be able to: identify risks for lone atrial fibrillation and synthesize evidence based practices for screening and management of patients at risk.

Key words: lone atrial fibrillation