In brief , female atrial fibrillation patients more commonly present comorbidities , leading to a higher prevalence of persistent atrial fibrillation ; moreover , they refer to hospital care later and with a longer disease history .
Atrial fibrillation symptoms relate to low quality of life in female patients ; in fact , atrial fibrillation paroxysm usually presents higher heart rate , leading to preferentially adopt a rate rather than a rhythm-control strategy .
Female atrial fibrillation patients present an increased risk of stroke , worsened by the lower  oral anticoagulant prescription rate related to the concomitant higher haemorrhagic risk profile .
Trans-catheter ablation is under-used in female patients and , on the contrary , they are more commonly affected by anti-arrhythmic drug side effects
Atrial fibrillation is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia .
Its prevalence increases with age and preferentially affects male patients .
Over 75 years of age , however , female patients being more prevalent , the absolute number of patients affected is similar between sexes .
Despite this , few data are available in the literature concerning sex-related differences in atrial fibrillation patients .
The present systematic review therefore considers comorbidities , referring symptoms , quality of life , pharmacological approaches  and  trans-catheter ablation  in female rather than in male atrial fibrillation patients in search of parameters that may have an impact on the treatment outcome .
Age and gender influences on rate and duration of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
UNLABELLED The influence of age and gender on the character of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ( PAD ) has not been described . METHODS The heart rate ( HR ) during  PAF in patients receiving placebo or antiarrhythmic therapy  was analyzed . Data from 177 24-hour Holter recordings  were analyzed to mark the onset and termination of PAF and converted into RR interval files . PAF episodes lasting at least 2 minutes and containing < or = 20 % noise were included . HR during the first 30-second segment versus during the remainder of the episode , and the duration of PAF episodes were compared among groups of different ages and sex ( Wilcoxon test ) . RESULTS 236 episodes from 55 recordings in 32 patients ( all patients : 61.4 + /- 12.8 years ; men ( 19 ) : 58.5 + /- 12.6 years ; women ( 13 ) 65.5 + /- 12.4 years , P = ns for difference in age ) fulfilled the inclusion criteria . Women had a higher mean heart rate at AF onset ( 123 + /- 35 beats/min vs 115 + /- 20 beats/min , P = 0.02 ) and during the remainder of the episode ( 120 + /- 25 beats/min vs 112 + /- 22 beats/min at the start , P = 0.01 , and 116 + /- 26 beats/min vs 108 + /- 18 beats/min subsequently , P = 0.01 ) . Episodes tended to be longer in women ( mean 89.8 min vs 50.5 min , P = NS ) and in the aged ( mean 83.8 min vs 46.9 min , P = NS ) . CONCLUSION PAF episodes are associated with faster heart rates and last longer in women , which may reflect differing autonomic responses to AF . A slower ventricular rate during PAF in older patients probably reflects an increasing prevalence of impaired atrioventricular conduction
In brief , female atrial fibrillation patients more commonly present comorbidities , leading to a higher prevalence of persistent atrial fibrillation ; moreover , they refer to hospital care later and with a longer disease history .
Atrial fibrillation symptoms relate to low quality of life in female patients ; in fact , atrial fibrillation paroxysm usually presents higher heart rate , leading to preferentially adopt a rate rather than a rhythm-control strategy .
Female atrial fibrillation patients present an increased risk of stroke , worsened by the lower  oral anticoagulant prescription rate related to the concomitant higher haemorrhagic risk profile .
Trans-catheter ablation is under-used in female patients and , on the contrary , they are more commonly affected by anti-arrhythmic drug side effects
Atrial fibrillation is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia .
Its prevalence increases with age and preferentially affects male patients .
Over 75 years of age , however , female patients being more prevalent , the absolute number of patients affected is similar between sexes .
Despite this , few data are available in the literature concerning sex-related differences in atrial fibrillation patients .
The present systematic review therefore considers comorbidities , referring symptoms , quality of life , pharmacological approaches  and  trans-catheter ablation  in female rather than in male atrial fibrillation patients in search of parameters that may have an impact on the treatment outcome .