Voxelwise distribution of acute ischemic stroke lesions in patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation: Trigger of arrhythmia or only target of embolism?

Abstract

In the search for brain areas potentially triggering cardiac arrhythmias infarct size should be accounted for. After controlling for infarct size, there is currently no evidence that ischemic stroke lesions of specific brain areas are associated with new AF compared to patients without AF. This challenges the neurogenic hypothesis of AF according to which a relevant proportion of new AF is triggered by ischemic brain lesions of particular locations.