Progression from Paroxysmal to Persistent Atrial Fibrillation in Pacemaker Patients with Tachycardia–bradycardia Syndrome: a Multicenter Study

Progression from paroxysmal to persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) is occasionally encountered in patients with previous pacemaker implantation (PMI) for the treatment of tachycardia–bradycardia syndrome (TBS). We aimed to determine the rate of its incidence occurring within the early years after PMI and the predictors. We studied TBS patients who received PMI at 5 core cardiovascular centers. The end point was a conversion from paroxysmal to persistent AF. We extracted 342 TBS patients out of 2579 undergoing PMI. During 5 ± 3.1 years of follow-up, 114 (33.3