[Concentration of endogenous prostanoids and cyclic nucleotides in patients with atrial fibrillation]

The variations in the content of endogenic prostanoids and cyclic nucleotides in the blood plasma of the coronary sinus and ascending aorta were studied in patients with the idiopathic stable form of atrial fibrillation before and after sinus rhythm recovery effected by electroimpulse therapy. Changes in the levels and ratios of these compounds in the coronary venous and arterial blood were found to be opposite in their trends. A significant elevation in TxB2 levels and the TxB2/6-keto-PGF1 ratio as well as increased cGMP concentrations in the plasma of the coronary venous blood appear to be suggestive of an unfavourable prognosis because patients with such changes developed atrial fibrillation recurrences soon after electroimpulse therapy.