Atrial fibrillation after non-cardiac surgery is common and not benign

A cohort study of persons with incident atrial fibrillation (AF) has found that AF after noncardiac surgery is common and comprises 13 percent of all new AF diagnoses. Postoperative AF is also associated with similar risk for stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and death as AF unrelated to surgery. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.