Re: Atrial Fibrillation

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD-APS on April 14, 1999 at 10:10:09
Topic Area: Mitral Valve
I am a 35-year-old female, and I had open heart surgery when I was 23 to
repair my mitral valve. Recently, I was told that I now have atrial
fibrillation. My cardiologist, who by the way is also an
electrophysiologist, has performed many tests on me. I have had the
electrical test, tilt table test, stress test, electrocadiogram, 24-hour
holter monitor, and a 30 day ecg scanner. I have also had a heart catheter
to check my mitral valve and it is fine. I am taking Warfarin, Tiazac, Ecotrin,
and Rythmol. My cardiologist thinks that the Rythmol is just covering up my
symptoms and not really helping me at all. He told me that my heart is
enlarging and will continue to become enlarged until one day I will be in
full atrial fibrillation. My questions are what happens when a person is in
full atrial fibrillation, and since there is no cure for afib, how long can a
person live in this condition and with what kind of limitations?
Thanks a lot,
Peggy    




Dear Peggy,
I do not believe "full atrial fibrillation" to be a well known medical term, maybe your doctor means that you will eventually be in atrial fibrillation chronically, i.e. constant a.fib that is impossible to get back in to sinus rhythm; honestly you will have to ask your doctor to clarify this.
Patients in chronic a.fib are at significant risk of stroke; this risk has been shown to be reduced by therapy with Warfarin (coumadin.)
If the rate of the atrial fibrillation is not controlled, i.e. the heart rate is greater than 100, then the patient is at risk for feeling lousy, short of breath, low blood pressure, etc.  A person can live a very long time in chronic a.fib, barring major complications from the a.fib and or coexisting disease.  Other than the risks I mentioned above, the only limitations really are the regular follow up with a physician and taking life-long medications.
It is in the best interest of every patient that his/her physician do ABSOLUTELY everything to get them and keep them in sinus rhythm, i.e. keep 'em out of a chronic a.fib situation.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
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.

[Pegy]

Posted By Peggy on April 16, 1999 at 17:50:58
Thanks so much for answering my questions. It has really been a help. When my doctor used the term "full atrial fib" he was referring to constant a.fib. He likes to change the words to something he thinks I might understand better. I understood constant a.fib just fine.
I just have a few more questions for you. I noticed that the Cleveland Clinic has done the Maze procedure, and I was wondering what their sucess rate is. Is it standard procedure to use medication to try and help a patient stay in normal sinus rhythm vs. any other procedure, such as the maze procedure or a pacemaker? Also, I was in constant a.fib for four months, could I already have heart damage from it?
By the way, I have already had a cardioversion, and I am currently on Warfarin to prevent stroke.
Thanks a lot for you help
Peggy
P.S. Thanks John for the website. I went to the website you suggested and it is very informative. I will keep it in mind.










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