Atrial Fibrillation Summary

This case study discusses the management of a 68 year old male who presented with chest palpitations secondary to rapid atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a common cardiac arrhythmia with serious complications if not treated correctly. This essay will discuss the initial clinical presentation of the patient and examine the management and outcome of the interventions applied. The significance of atrial fibrillation including its pathophysiology and aetiology will also be discussed.

- The goals of treatment include a decrease in ventricular response (to less than 100 beats/minute), prevention of stroke, and conversion to normal sinus rhythm, if possible. To accomplish this, I would expect the health care provider to initially order drugs to control the ventricular rate, such as calcium channel blockers, beta-adrenergic blockers, digoxin, and dronedarone. For some patients, pharmacologic or electrical conversion of the atrial fibrillation to normal sinus rhythm may then also be considered, such as by using amiodarone or electrical cardioversion. If the atrial fibrillation lasts for longer than 48 hours, anticoagulation therapy will be needed for 3-4 weeks before the cardioversion and for weeks after as well. If drugs or cardioversion do not work, radiofrequency catheter ablation and the Maze procedure would be expected as further options.

Ablation. During this procedure the heart tissue causing the problem is destroyed. This procedure may be done if atrial flutter lasts a long time or happens often.

Atril fibrillation, also known as Afib, causes problems with the heart's electrical impulse system resulting in an Afib irregular heartbeat. The most common type of heartbeat problem, Afib affects 2.2 million people in the United States.

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

There no direct cause as why to atrial fibrillation occur but, there is many other disease and disorders that Atrial Fibrillation is associated with. For example Atrial Fibrillation is closely associated with heart attack due to the fact that a during a heart attack the coronary artery is unable to supply oxygen to the heart which then causes the muscles in the heart to starve for oxygen. This can then lead to the death of some muscle tissue in the heart which then can lead to AFib. Hypertension also play a role in AFib, Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a constant high pressure of blood against the walls of the artery (arteries are the blood vessel that carry blood from the heart to our body parts) (A blood vessel is a tube which carries

Atrial fibrillation is one type of arrhymia, often rapid heart rate. Atrial fibrillation mean the atrial contract to quicky, disturbance between the atrial and the ventrical. AF usually isn’t life- threatening, however this is dangerous because the patient may not have symptoms, but it can increase risk of heart failure and stroke because the blood flow isn’t fluent.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is reaching epidemic proportions and is having a major impact on the public health system. This essay will explore the prevalence of AF and will describe the aetiology, pathophysiology and the risk factors of this arrhythmia. It will use evidence based practices to describe the current treatment modalities used for AF, along with the appropriate nursing interventions in order to prevent any complications and thus, resulting in an improved quality of life for the patient. Furthermore, the essay will be exploring topics regarding the relevant education and lifestyle modifications.

Atrial fibrillation is a common problem, with over 2 million people affected in the United States. Atrial fibrillation causes substantial morbidity and mortality, with an increased risk of ischemic stroke. Thus, it is important to recognize the risk factors associated with the disease to prevent it from occurring. In this review, being overweight and obese is positively correlated with increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation in both men and women. This review suggests that the excess risk of atrial fibrillation associated with obesity may be caused by the left atrial remodeling and enlargement caused by the excess adipose tissue, hemodynamic overload, and adipokines inflammatory response. This data raises the possibility that interventions to promote normal weight may reduce the burden of atrial fibrillation in the current and future population. A few of the recognized risk factors for atrial fibrillation are male sex, increasing age, hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and heart valve disease (13). It has been known for more than 75 years that a critical mass of atrial tissue is necessary for atrial fibrillation to occur and left atrial enlargement is also an important precursor of atrial fibrillation (3). Several studies have shown that BMI is one of the most powerful determinants of the left atrial size needed for developing atrial fibrillation (3), so getting BMI lowered by exercise and a good diet should be of high priority

Catheter ablation for AF could obviate the need for rate control or antiarrhythmic drugs and should be considered.

Atrial Fibrillation and its inception are due to innovative health professionals who sought to treat their patients. Dr. Melvin Scheinman performed the first catheter ablation in humans in 1981. Dr. Melvin also utilized high-energy DC shocks to generate scars in his patient’s heart compared to today’s popularized RF energy. Dr Scheinman still remains as an active member of the electrophysiology group at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Dr Scheinman’s work has also led to the development of radiofrequency energy catheters. The UCSF radiofrequency energy catheters channel radiofrequency energy to heat the catheter tip and perform much more precise ablation than was possible with DC ablation. Cather ablation has been used for

In patients with arrhythmias, which can prompt heart disappointment, specialists will undoubtedly consume with smoldering heat the influenced tissue with focused radio-recurrence vitality. At present they work the strategy fairly visually impaired, utilizing their feeling of touch to make sense of when they have come in contact with the muscle divider. "Since the doctor doesn't have a perspective of the heart divider, at times the vitality is not really being conveyed to the muscle," says Fleming, and furthermore includes that the strategy can keep going for quite a long time. Fleming has appeared in creature tests that her catheter, which utilizes a novel front aligned focal point, can effectively screen the removal progressively. Calculations that assistance recognize untreated from treated tissue offer further

When an arrhythmia has been caused by an obstruction in the coronary arteries, a coronary artery bypass graft may be done to restore blood flow. With a-fib, surgeons may also recommend an operation called the maze procedure, which reroutes the heart's electrical impulses along a defined

Atrial fibrillation is a common chronic condition, occurring in approximately three million people in the United States (American College of Cardiology, 2015). It can lead to serious complications such as blood clots, stroke, or heart failure (American College of Cardiology, 2015). Therefore, healthcare providers must understand how to manage new onset and chronic atrial fibrillation.