Atrial Fibrillation Case Study Essay

A 68 year old male presented to the emergency department at 0800 hours via ambulance after experiencing chest discomfort and intermittent palpitations since 0500 hours. Prior to presentation, the patient stated he

Most physicians and people who acquired the problem usually know it as A-FIB, a shorter term for atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation deals with the cardiovascular system, in particular, the heart in the body. It is defined as, “the electrical signals that control this system are off-kilter. Instead of working together the atria do their own thing, causing fast fluttering heartbeat, also known as arrhythmia” (WEBMD). In a normal pumping blood of the heart the atria would squeeze first, followed by the ventricles of the heart. A-fib can be a serious issue if not treated, due to the inadequate pumping of the blood, causing a higher chance of heart failure. It is also a higher chance in getting a stroke, because improper flow of the blood can cause clots in the

You are working in the internal medicine clinic of a large teaching hospital. Today your first patient is 70-year-old J.M, a man who has been coming to the clinic for several years for management of CAD and HTN. A cardiac catheterization done a year ago showed 50% stenosis of the circumflex coronary artery. He has had episodes of dizziness for the past 6 months and orthostatic hypotension, shoulder discomfort, and decreased exercise tolerance for the past 2 months. On his last clinic visit 3 weeks ago, a CXR showed cardiomegaly and a 12-lead ECG showed sinus tachycardia with left bundle branch block. You review his morning blood work and initial assessment.

The patient is a 76-year-old Hispanic gentleman brought to the ED by his wife because the patient has been anxious for 2 weeks and now unable to sleep much of the night. He denies any chest pain but has had on-and-off palpitations that seemed not to be related to activity or a particular time of day. He denies any shortness of breath, lightheadedness or loss of consciousness. He had two episodes of syncope three years ago. He was diagnosed with having an MI. He was at that time treated at St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic and underwent cardiac catheterization and he has had some stenting done to his coronary arteries. He saw his PMD approximately a week ago who prescribed some sleeping medicine and neurology consult which the patient has

On arrival at the ED, the physician auscultates muffled heart tones, no breath sounds on the right, and faint sounds on the left. A.W. is

Situation: the patient is a 78 year old male, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, demonstrating restlessness, agitation with a rapid heart rate, tachycardia.

“The patient is Adam Rudd, a 78 y/o white male with a history of hypertension. He has been diagnosed with hypertension past 15 years and is on anti-hypertensive medications and aspirin. He is very weak and short of breath. He is accompanied with his longtime friend Jennifer, who reports that Rudd was looking very weak and was complaining of severe headache and blurred vision before coming to the hospital. He is 5’9” and weighs 270 lb. Vital signs recorded were: oral temperature 98.20 F, BP 224/120 mm Hg with a heart rate of 102 beats/minute and respiration of 24 breaths per minute. The pulse oximetry reading was 94% on room air. He is complaining of severe headache and blurred vision. Rudd said that he did not take his antihypertensive medication or aspirin since he ran out of pills. He has not been taking his medication for past 15 days. He reports no known allergies to any medications or other substances.”

What is atrial fibrillation? Atrial fibrillation, also known as afib, is an irregular heartbeat that produces disorganized electrical signals within the heart. This results in quivering of the atria, or top chambers of the heart which allows blood to pool. Stagnant blood in the atria increases the risk of developing a blood clot.1 The blood clot can enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain resulting in a stroke. Atrial fibrillation is associated with a 5 times increased risk for stroke, and approximately 15-20 percent of people who experience a stroke have atrial fibrillation.2 Symptoms of atrial fibrillation are heart palpitations, shortness of breath, weakness, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue.1(p6) The incidence of afib increases

Cardiac dysrhythmias come in different degrees of severity. There are heart conditions that you are able to live with and manage on a daily basis and those that require immediate attention. Atrial Fibrillation is one of the more frequently seen types of dysrhythmias (NIH, 2011). The best way to diagnosis a heart condition is by reading a cardiac strip (Ignatavicius &Workman, 2013). Cardiac strips play an chief part in the nursing world allowing the nurse and other trained medical professionals to interpret what the heart is doing. In a normal strip, one can clearly identify a P wave before every QRS complex, which is then followed by a T wave; in Atrial Fibrillation, the Sinoatrial node fires irregularly causing there to be no clear P

When one begins to discuss issues that arise with an intrinsic organ, things get serious. Unfortunately, vital organs like the heart and liver that are causing problems can’t be removed like the appendix or the kidney and “cure” people of issues such as Appendicitis or constant dealings with gallstones. This is true when things begin to go awry within the heart and conditions begin to arise. Atrial Fibrillation (A-fib) is the most common type of arrhythmia, or issue with the heart rate or rhythm. Though A-fib is not a condition that is life-threatening, depending on the severity and lack of treatment, this condition leads to more serious issues like heart disease, and even heart attacks and strokes, which are usually what end up being the cause of death in individuals diagnosed with the condition. Because of A-fib leading to other more detrimental problems, such as the ones listed above, it is difficult to identify and pinpoint if someone has it or had it, which is why it is known as one of the contributors to the “silent killer,” also known as the heart attack. In this paper, gaining a deeper understanding of Atrial Fibrillation will be accomplished through the exploration of: causes, diagnosis, symptoms and treatment, the variation of types, what all is affected within the body as a result, what happens physically, and what occurs at the cellular level when diagnosed with this disorder. All in all, Atrial Fibrillation should be taken seriously and further research is

This report is an analysis of an anonymous patient’s medications and how they relate to his health issues. Please note that the patient will be referred to as patient Afib in order to protect his privacy. Patient Afib is a 58 year old male with a recent onset of atrial fibrillation (AF) that has been cured using ablation and antiarrhythmic medications. This report discusses how physicians treated patient Afib’s AF, the medications patient Afib is currently taking and their mechanism of action, and how these medications relate to the patient’s disease. Medications discussed in this analysis include Proair HFA, Multaq, Toprol XL, and Coumadin. Proair HFA, a rescue inhaler used to treat asthma, was prescribed to patient Afib in order to determine if AF or underlying asthma caused his shortness of breath. Multaq is an antiarrhythmic drug used to keep patient Afib in a normal sinus rhythm. Toprol XL is a medication used in the treatment of hypertension that also exhibits rate controlling properties which prove beneficial for patient Afib. Coumadin, an anticoagulant, is used to reduce the risk of stroke for patient Afib should his AF ever spontaneously return without his knowledge. Patient Afib does not like the regime of pills he is required to take but understands their necessity.

The research team hopes to use the numerical model they have designed to link modifications that take place at the cellular and tissue level when a heart fails to a numerically computed ECG. This, they wish, will assist to determine what it is that triggers ventricular fibrillation (VF), and to recognize the risk of VF.

Atrial fibrillation can cause significant discomfort (particularly if one has a lot of symptoms) and this may reduce one’s ability to exercise and do daily activities which may affect one’s life. Alternative, atrial fibrillation may not affect one’s day-to-day life. Atrial fibrillation is associated with a decrease in the heart’s ability to pump blood (it can result in the development of heart failure), which can affect one’s quality of life, increase the likelihood of being admitted to hospital and reduce one’s life expectancy. Atrial fibrillation itself does not pose a direct and immediate risk of death and many patients live with the arrhythmia for decades. However, atrial fibrillation can lead to serious complications. These possible complications

Today millions of Americans live or have lived with Atrial fibrillation. The main concern with this health issue is that many people who lived with it sometimes are not aware of it. Atrial fibrillation is defined by Mayo Clinic (2012) as “an irregular and often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow to the body”. It occurs when the four chambers of the heart have a disrupted rhythm. The abnormal functionality of health may lead to a stroke because of the possible blood clot that will be formed. The Atrial fibrillation or Afib put the body in a situation without oxygen and nutrients because the body is not well supplied by a heart that is became weak. In general, only few people will feel change in their heartbeat. They may verbalize

In addition, scientists have found that genetics also plays a role in cardiac arrhythmias and that in some cases patients have commented that they had no symptoms before they succumbed to some form of episode of cardiac distress, like a sudden heart attack. This has proven to be standard for many different forms of arrhythmias, whether it’s due to genetics or not. One such case is the long QT syndrome (LQTS) which is estimated to affect one in every 5000 people and is recognized as a family disorder, frequent in children during their childhood years (Wilde, and Bezzina 1352–1358.) Patients with this disorder can have symptoms of a fluttering heartbeat, shortness of breath, and chest pain, while other patients might not experience any symptoms at all (Wilde, and Bezzina 1352–1358.) Another known disorder is cardiac conduction disease, which is mostly due to some form of cardiac injury (Wilde, and Bezzina 1352–1358.) Symptoms for this