Early versus delayed cardioversion: why should we wait?

Introduction: Cardioversion (CV) is the essential component of rhythm control strategy for atrial fibrillation (AF). This review will focus on how the timing of CV affects the efficacy and safety of rhythm control strategy.Areas covered: There are no randomized studies assessing the effect of timing on CV outcome. Based on observational studies, the success of CV of acute (<48 hours) AF is consistently better than the later CV of persistent AF....