Questions posted in the Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: atrial fibrillation

Forum: The Heart Forum
Topic: Defibrillator


I am searcing for answers for my dad who is having trouble regulating his AF
problem. He has a low tollerance to the medications and wants to know if there is a successful pacemaker that can control this. In the past 12 months his quality of life has suffered dramatically from his AF. He has visited and been in the care of several local heart doctors in his rural area which is South of Rochester in the finger lake region of New York. He is wondering if they are up on the latest technology. 1. Can you tell us where he can go to get some quality care that can help him and perhaps get him on an implanted shock therapy? He has gone from very active to can hardly go for a walk. He is 70 years young and aside from allergies, has no other health problems. He has been externally converted twice. He has tried Norpace, beta pace, one other and is has now tried Quinidine. He was on 650 mg and when they boosted him to 973 mg he had his normal side effects of dizzy, disoriented and vision blurred. He cannot drive like this and gets very depressed. Since he seems to have such a low tollerance to the medications, he is hoping to find a successfull pacemaker devise that can help. 2. Can you give us info regarding this type of treatment and is it successful and relatively safe?

Dear concerned

You are welcome to make an appointment here at the Cleveland Clinic. The cardiologists in the electrophysiology division are up to date on the latest techniques for stopping atrial fibrillation. There are catheter based approaches, surgical approaches, and the implantation of an atrial defibrillator. The atrial defibrillator is still experimental, but appears to be safe and effective. It does not eliminate the need for medicines in all patients. In addition, there are other medicines for atrial fib other than the ones you listed.

If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

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