Atrial fibrilation?

I had a stent installed in my right coronary artery in 2003. Last week. while at rest, I had strong heart palpitations and was light headed; after 5 minutes I became short of breath and was sweating on my forehead; after another 5 minutes I had a slight pain in the center of my chest. The EMT'S said my heart rate was 122. I was taken to the hospital. The symptoms lasted a total of about 25 minutes. When I arrived at the hospital, my symptoms were gone. A blood enzyme tesr showed "something"; a ECG with a treadmill stress test showed "something"; a heart cath showed my arteries were clear. The Cardiologist asked me if I had Atrial Fibrilation. I have no idea. His tests were inconclusive. Could I have atrial fibrilation?

[Jerry_NJ]

Wow, the cardiologist asked if you have atrial fibrillation...strange in my mind.

I believe AFig is easily seen (if it is active at the time) on an EKG, the "P waver" I think it is  called, is distorted or missing and the heart beats are irregular and usually faster than normal.

Many suffer from intermittent AFib (I forget the name, there is one) and that may be what the cardiologist was asking about.  That is, you were not in AFib when he examined you, but you could, none-the-less, suffer from AFib.

I think it a good idea to take an aspirin a day (best with a meal) just in case you do have periods of AFib.  AFib is not normally in and of itself dangerous or life threatening, but it can cause a blood clot to form (rare but more likely than if you didn't have the AFib) and the aspirin may prevent that from happening.  A blood clot can cause a stroke, and that can be very bad.

[Wisconsin2007]

Was there a cardiologist at the ER, or was that an ER doctor asking?  I can see the doctor asking if s/he isn't familiar with your medical history.  And as Jerry said, you can have "lone afib", or it can be paroxysmal (starts and stops suddenly) or chronic, and may not be caught right away by an EKG.  

Unlike Jerry, I try to keep my "P waver" to myself.  Sometimes I share with my wife.  ;)

If they did a heart cath and found no blockages, I would say that's excellent news.  Did the EMTs print out any EKGs while you were in their care?  I would think that would be beneficial data for you and your doctors to have to determine if it was an arrhythmia that was causing your symptoms or something else.

[Jerry_NJ]

I was serious about the P-Wave. Sorry about the typo "waver"  ... I do that a lot :(  

Here's the caption under an EKG/ECG picture for sinus and afib.  "ECG of atrial fibrillation (top) and sinus rhythm (bottom). The purple arrow indicates a P wave, which is lost in atrial fibrillation."

You can get the picture on the web WIkipedia.

[Wisconsin2007]

I know you were - just trying to add a little lightheartedness into the conversation.  I saw a joke in there and couldn't resist.  :)

I think the problem with the P-wave in the graphic on wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Afib_ecg.jpg  is that the P wave is lost among many P waves.  The atria are depolarizing and repolarizing really quickly and in an unorganized fashion, leading to lots of little P waves.  Some of them conduct all the way to the AV node and cause ventricular contractions, some don't (as seen in that EKG).

[Tom121]

Since I just joined this froup, I hope I am using the right format to respond. Thanks to all who responded to my question on Atrial Fib. Yes it was a Cardiologist who asked me if I had this desease. I have since made an appointment to see my cardiologist in about 2 weeks.