Re: Atrial Fibrillation

Posted By louis on May 04, 1999 at 20:41:50PI am 52 y/o male in excellent health with solo paroxysmalbrfib for approx 6 yrs. I have had all dx testing including echos (esophageal), stress testing(thallium),r and l heart cath w/swan ganz pressures....all very normal.brI have been on various meds to control rate and rhythm, none of which worked for more that 9 mo, including procanamide, quinidine, flecanide (had adverse reaction w/ventricular tach), and cordorone. I am currently only taking verapamil for rate control and coumadin...no rhythm control med. In the past I have been in atrial fib almost continuously when not controlled w/med. However, in the last 6 mo since I have dc'd the latest drug Cordarone, I have  been in atrial fib approx 8-10% of the time. I have episodes about every 1-2 wks of 8-12hrs up to 36 hrs of atrial fib, then convert on my own. The atrial fib almost always starts when I am asleep and goes away when awake and active.brI have the following questions:br1) Is it possible that the cause of my atrial fib is lessening...or have you known of patients who had atrial fib and experience a complete recovery? Or, should I be more pessimistic and expect it to get worse as I get older?br2) Is there any other medication that I could try to control the atrial fib that has few adverse reactions.?br3) Is there more likelihood that I will continue to have atrial fib at the current frequency, that it will get better or worse (considering that it has lessened from 100% of the time to only 10% in the last 6 yrs).brThank you very much for your support and advice.PPHR WIDTH=75% SIZE=4 COLOR=#000090

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on May 05, 1999 at 15:19:29PDear Louis,pQ:  Is it possible that the cause of my atrial fib is lessening...or have you known of patients who had atrial fib and experience a complete recovery? Or, should I be more pessimistic and expect it to get worse as I get older?brA: In general afib does not lessen unless treated with medication.  pQ:  Is there an

[louis__0]

Posted By louis on May 09, 1999 at 18:02:44

Thank you  for your feedback...can you give me some idea of what "non medical" options might be on the horizon ?
I have tried several medications all of which either failed or caused side effects. I am currently experiencing an increase frequency and time period of atrial fib even since I wrote my first question. Thank you.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on May 10, 1999 at 09:34:57

The non-medical approaches I'm referring to are the Maze procedure and catheter ablations.  The Maze procedure is a surgical option that is currently available and is curative in 80-90% of patients.   It involves open heart surgery and is not usually done unless there is another reason to operate. (i.e. need to repair heart valve).  The catheter approach is still in its infancy but attempts to cure afib through ablation.  In 5 to 10 years there may be a good catheter approach but currently the success rate is rather low.
Hope this helps.  Feel free to write back with additional questions.











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Re: Atrial Fibrillation CCF CARDIO MD - CRC 5/18/1999
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