Dealing With Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is the heart condition created when the electrical signals which coordinate the contractions of the twinned-chambers of the heart starts to malfunction. Very often, atrial fibrillation goes unnoticed and does not present any symptoms for the patient or doctor to recognize and diagnose the condition but atrial fibrillation can be extremely serious as well as life-threatening.

To understand atrial fibrillation we must first understand how the heart functions. Picture two sets of chambers stacked one on top of the other – the upper pair of chambers, known as atria (or atrium if singular) are larger and each feeds into a lower chamber below known as a ventricle which are smaller. The atrium’s job is to collect the blood together as it enters the heart and then to contract which forces the blood into the ventricle; the smaller ventricle must then contract to pump the blood around the body. This results in the double-beat sound which is the heart’s signature and this is known as the Sinus Rhythm.

It is important that this is coordinated carefully so that the atrium does not push blood into the ventricle when the ventricle is not ready or actually contracts on cue properly to get the blood into the ventricle. If it fails to contract or do so on schedule, then the ventricle will not have blood to pass around the body. An electrical signal is generated which tells the atrium when to contract and this is created by the heart’s natural pacemaker known as the Sinoatrial Node (SA Node) and as the signal crosses the atrium, it causes it to contract when required.

Atrial fibrillation is where the electrical signal is bypassing the atrium and effectively short-circuiting. The atrium doesn’t contract or does so inefficiently – failing to contract the atrium “fibrillates” instead; imagine a jelly shaking on a plate and this will give you a good mental picture as to what is happening.

Treatment may not be necessary where the symptoms are mild and the patient is not experiencing loss of quality of life. Where medical intervention is required, the condition can be effectively managed by medication or catheters may be used to regulate the operation of the heart. In some instances, this fails or the medication produces symptoms which affect the patient or the patient has a history and risk factor profile which warrants heart surgery. Surgery uses a procedure known as the Maze Procedure, which redirects the electrical signals across the atrium to re-establish the Sinus Rhythm and success rates are extremely high – 80% to 100% success rates are the norm.

As atrial fibrillation is frequently not discovered until a more serious medical event occurs, it is important that you receive regular cardiac screenings to identify the condition as early as possible. Symptoms such as shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, “palpitations” and in some instances, angina, may be presented. Patients with a history of cardiac events, diabetes, rheumatic fever and hypertension are all in a higher risk category for atrial fibrillation.