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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
What happens if I go to the ER?
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-M.D.-bkj, Mar 03, 2007 12:00AM
Kevin,
Thanks for the post.
The risk of developing embolic complications from atrial fibrillation increases the longer you remain in fibrillation without anticoagulation. For those in fibrillation longer than 48 hours, the worry is that sufficient time has elapsed to develop clot in the left atrium. We do not like to cardiovert (shock) patients out of fibrillation if they have been in fibrillation without anticoagulation for an extended period due to the risk of potential clot embolizing from the atrium. This risk can be decreased by performing a TEE before cardioversion to make sure there is no clot in the atrium if the patient has been in fibrillation for an extended period.
hope this is a start.
Thanks for the post.
The risk of developing embolic complications from atrial fibrillation increases the longer you remain in fibrillation without anticoagulation. For those in fibrillation longer than 48 hours, the worry is that sufficient time has elapsed to develop clot in the left atrium. We do not like to cardiovert (shock) patients out of fibrillation if they have been in fibrillation without anticoagulation for an extended period due to the risk of potential clot embolizing from the atrium. This risk can be decreased by performing a TEE before cardioversion to make sure there is no clot in the atrium if the patient has been in fibrillation for an extended period.
hope this is a start.
