What is atrial fibrillation?
Atrial Fibrillation is an irregular and rapid heartbeat caused by a faulty electrical flow in the heart, It does not allow blood to move through the heart in a normal way which may increse the risk of blood clots and stroke. Symptoms may include shortness of breath on exertion, palpitations, and episodes of dizziness or fainting.
Atrial fibrillation (A fib) is one of the most common heart rhythm disorders, affecting more than two million people in the United States. In A fib, the heart beats rapidly and irregularly. Although not directly life threatening, A fib can cause palpitations, other rhythm problems, chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness and stroke. The chance of a stroke is increased five-fold in patients with A fib.
Atrial fibrillation (A fib) is one of the most common heart rhythm disorders, affecting more than two million people in the United States. In A fib, the heart beats rapidly and irregularly. Although not directly life threatening, A fib can cause palpitations, other rhythm problems, chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness and stroke. The chance of a stroke is increased five-fold in patients with A fib. The likelihood of developing A fib increases with age but it can occur in young patients as well. Treatment of A fib includes medications to convert A fib back to the normal rhythm, medications to slow the heart rate during A fib, and medications that thin the blood. Often A fib can be difficult to control. New procedures are now available which can cure A fib in selected patients.
Atrial fibrillation is characterized by a rapid, irregular heart beat and can be paroxysmal (intermittent) or permanent in nature. It is caused by a dysfunction of the heart tissue or nodes, by a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system or by a combination of both. Individual heart cells are capable of “beating” on their own outside the control of the autonomic system. Sometimes agglomerations of very active cells form and create a focus for so called ectopic beats (beats originating outside the SA (sino-atrial) node). The junction between the left atrium and the pulmonary vein is a particularly popular spot for these “rogue” cell agglomerations and some arrhythmias can be successfully treated by removing them with radio frequency ablation. If the ectopic beats become very frequent they may run together and create atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation basically involves a chaotic movement of electrical impulses across the atria and leads to a loss of synchrony between the atria a
Atrial fibrillation, commonly called AF is a disturbance of the electrical conduction system within the heart resulting in the rapid and chaotic quivering of the top two chambers in the heart (atria). This quivering and chaotic motion significantly impacts the ability of the heart to effectively pump blood to the body. It is a leading cause of stroke and if untreated can lead to heart failure and death. Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent cardiac rhythm disturbance (arrhythmia), affecting more than 2.5 million patients today in the United States with 160,000 new cases diagnosed each year. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation increases with age. It is currently estimated that over 5% of the population ages 70-79 lives with atrial fibrillation and over 9% of patients between 80-89 years. 24.
