32 years-old and recently diagnosed with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

[JamieVan]

Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation...I am male and just turned 32. Because of my young age my attending Cardiologist is concerned I may have some form of heart disease. Both my stress test and my cardiac ultrasound results came back good (negative). Should I leave it at this or should I be tested further with a CT scan and or MRI...which I believe he may want to do. I don't want to waste my time and I certainly don't want to waste the time of the hospital and patients who truly need the time being tested. I'm currently taking 50 mg of Metoprolol twice daily. I should also mention that I've undergone 6 major operations in the last 10 years. 4 due to Crohns disease, 1 on my knee and most recently, a cervical spinal fusion. I've also been unsuccessful in finding any past heart disease in my family history.

[Jayde25]

AF What happens is that the normal controlling timer in the heart is over ridden by many random electrical impulses that fire off from the heart muscle in the atria. The atria then fibrillate. This means that the atria only partially squeeze (contract) - but very rapidly (up to 400 times per minute). Only some of these impulses pass through to the ventricles in a haphazard way. Therefore, the ventricles contract anywhere between 50 and 180 times a minute, but usually between 140 and 180 times a minute. However, the ventricles contract in an irregular way and with varying force.

Therefore, if you have AF and feel your pulse, you may count up to 180 beats per minute. Also, the force of each beat can vary, and the pulse feels erratic.

The main complication of AF is an increased risk of having a stroke. AF causes turbulent blood flow in the heart chambers. This sometimes leads to a small blood clot forming in a heart chamber.

A clot can travel in the blood vessels until it gets stuck in a smaller blood vessel in the brain (or sometimes in another part of the body). Part of the blood supply to the brain may then be cut off, which causes a stroke.

The risk of developing a blood clot and having a stroke varies, depending on various factors. The level of risk can be calculated by your doctor using a set of specific questions. This will help to decide what treatments are required. All people except those at the lowest risk will be offered medication to help prevent clots from forming.
It's better to have  a proper diagnosis than a guesstamate.