Study: Heart failure, not stroke, most common complication of atrial fibrillation

NEW YORK, April 17 (UPI) -- Doctors often tell patients with atrial fibrillation, which causes an irregular and often abnormally rapid heart rate, to beware of an increased risk of stroke. But the threat of heart failure should be even more worrisome, a new study reveals.

The study, conducted at Aalborg University in Denmark in collaboration with Tufts Medical Center and Boston Medical Center, was published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal.