Atrial fibrillation clinical guidelines

Australian clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice. Atrial fibrillation affects more than 500,000 Australians, and causes substantial morbidity and mortality

These are the first Australian guidelines on atrial fibrillation produced by the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. They have been developed to assist Australia-based practitioners in the management of adult patients with the condition. 

Who can use these guidelines?  

The Australian guidelines are written for health professionals across all disciplines. The guidelines provide a focus on local practice, with core recommendations informed by international guidelines.

What's in the guidelines?

• Clinical resources and algorithms.
• Recommendations on atrial fibrillation, incorporating evidence that has been graded on the certainty of evidence and the likely absolute benefit versus potential harm.
• Recommendations on screening and prevention, diagnostic workup, detection and management of atrial fibrillation risk factors and co-morbidities, arrhythmia management, stroke prevention. 
• Evidence and recommendations on newer risk factors (obesity, sleep apnoea, sedentary lifestyle). 
• Use of catheter ablation treatment. 
• Combining anticoagulants and antiplatelets. 
• Stroke prediction score (CHA2DS2-VA). 
• Recommendations for integrated management. 

Who endorses the guidelines?

These guidelines are endorsed by: 

• Stroke Foundation 
• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
• Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons 
• The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
• The Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia 
• Australian College of Nursing
• Royal Australian College of General Practitioners  

How were the guidelines developed

The guidelines were developed by the Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand based on current evidence (at the time of writing). The guidelines were written by members of the working group who are leading experts in their fields and highly renowned both in Australia and overseas.  The approach to development and consultation was designed to ensure appropriate stakeholder representation and engagement in the guideline writing process. Recommendations were developed using GRADE methodology, which assesses the certainty of evidence. Further information about the guideline development process can be found in the guidelines and below.

Governance and conflicts of interest

The following documents outline the governance and process for the development of the guidelines, and the conflicts of interest for the Working and Reference Groups.  

Governance and process

Conflicts of interest register for the Reference Group

Conflicts of interest register for the Working Group

Atrial fibrillation guidelines presentations 

Summary and full presentations about the guidelines are available below for download below.