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Treating Atrial Fibrillation
Treating Atrial FibrillationHaving a heart condition hasn’t stopped Marlo Klorfein from living an active life. She has atrial fibrillation or Afib, a type of rapid, irregular heartbeat. The diagnosis surprised her.I never felt any symptoms. Occasionally I would get dizzy, but I just thought, oh, I just stood up too fast.A-fib results from chaotic electrical signals in the atria – or upper chambers – that cause the heart to beat outof rhythm.We’re going to do an echocardiogram, which is just an ultrasound of your heart.Before beginning treatment for A-fib, your health care provider may want to do tests such as anechocardiogram, which uses sound waves to create an image of the heart as it pumps.This one is showing us all four chambers of your heart.Tests can help your healthcare team decide which treatment is best for you. The team will take into accountthe severity of your A-fib, how long you’ve had it, and any underlying health conditions. In some cases, acombination of treatments may be needed.There are many different ways of treating atrial fibrillation. And it’s a big spectrum that starts with notreatment and goes all the way to very invasive types of procedures.One option is medications, which include Antiarrhythmic medications to restore the heart's natural rhythm,rate control medications to slow down the heart rate,And anticoagulants, or blood thinning medications, to help reduce the risk of a stroke, which is elevated inpeople with A-fib.Another treatment option is a procedure called electrical cardioversion, which aims to restore the heart'snatural rhythm with an electrical shock that very quickly stops and restarts the heartbeat. Patients are givenmedication to make them sleepy so they don’t feel discomfort.Charging, ready, everybody clear?….shocking…there we go.The shock is instantaneous. It’s much less than a second. It may be about 200 miliseconds long.Catheter ablation is another procedure your health care provider may recommend. During an ablation, thin,flexible wires called catheters are inserted into a vein and guided to the heart to make scars in specific areas ofthe atria to block the electrical signals that are triggering the A-fib.In most cases the ablation is done under general anesthesia, which means the patient is not awake.Page 1 ofNone of the procedures that we do are risk free, but I think if you go to an electrophysiologist who doesablations frequently, they can do it very safely.In some cases, a type of ablation, known as AV node ablation, may be recommended to control heart rate,though it doesn’t stop A-fib.In this procedure, an area of the heart called the atrioventricular – or AV – node is destroyed. This preventselectrical signals in the atria from reaching the heart’s lower chambers, the ventricles. A pacemaker is thenimplanted to keep the heart beating regularly. Surgery known as a maze procedure is yet another treatment.Like ablation, it creates scar tissue to block chaotic electrical signals in the heart. The procedure can beperformed as open-heart surgery or as a so-called mini-maze, which is less invasive.Let us know if you have any symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath.Whatever the treatment, the goal is to reduce your risk for stroke and heart muscle damage as well as tocontrol your symptoms. As Marlo has found, that may require several treatments… and lots of patience. Atfirst, we were just wait and see. Then I went on some medications, and then I had an ablation.Don’t be frustrated. This is a process, and it’s gonna take time, but we can get you there.Page 2 ofThis program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.© The Wellness Network
Heart & Vascular Center
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