The heart is a muscular power system that continuously pumps blood through rhythmic beats and myocardial contractions to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, sustaining healthy life.
The symptoms of atrial fibrillation are mainly manifested as follows.
1, the symptoms of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is relatively sudden onset, the patient feels palpitations, shortness of breath, precordial discomfort and anxiety. In elderly people with coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation attacks start with a rapid ventricular rate, vertigo and even syncope can occur, and sometimes heart failure and shock can occur. The duration of each attack varies, from a few seconds in short episodes, to frequent episodes, to several days to weeks in long episodes.
2, the symptoms of persistent atrial fibrillation are related to the original heart disease and ventricular rate. The symptoms of atrial fibrillation are: palpitations and shortness of breath, especially after activity, the ventricular rate increases significantly. People with persistent atrial fibrillation are prone to heart failure. Atrial fibrillation because of atrial non-contractility, hemodynamic disorders, easy to occur attached thrombus, resulting in embolism of the body, pulmonary circulation, with brain embolism and limb artery embolism as the most common.
3, if there is no other heart disease, and the heartbeat is basically normal when atrial fibrillation, the patient can not have any atrial fibrillation symptoms, is discovered by chance, if atrial fibrillation causes rapid heartbeat, the patient will have panic, shortness of breath, chest tightness, breath-holding, panic, etc. If there is other heart disease, it will aggravate the symptoms of heart disease, especially will aggravate heart failure.
4, the symptoms of atrial fibrillation are also affected by the sensitivity and tolerance of the patient’s perceived symptoms, some patients can have obvious symptoms when atrial fibrillation first occurs, with the prolongation of the disease, some patients can gradually adapt and the symptoms may be reduced or even disappear.
What can cause atrial fibrillation?
Heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, precordial disease, hypertension, myocarditis, hyperthyroidism, chronic lung disease, overexertion, alcoholism, electrolyte metabolism disorders, and advanced age can all contribute to the development of atrial fibrillation.
Effects of atrial fibrillation on patients.
Stroke rate 5-17 times higher than in healthy individuals.
Mortality rates more than two times higher than normal.
Significant increase in medical expenses due to frequent medical visits.
How is atrial fibrillation diagnosed?
Diagnosis relies primarily on the physician’s auscultation of the heart rhythm. Since one of the characteristics of atrial fibrillation is that the rhythm is irregular, the vast majority of patients can be detected by auscultation, but confirming the diagnosis also requires an electrocardiogram, and for patients with short-term episodes of atrial fibrillation, tests such as an ambulatory electrocardiogram are required. All of these tests are simple and easy to perform and are available in hospitals.
The main treatments for atrial fibrillation are
The purpose of atrial fibrillation treatment is to restore the normal rhythmic beat of the heart, or to control a reasonable ventricular rate; to prevent the emergence of serious complications such as stroke, etc.
One of the reasons for this is the poor efficacy of anti-arrhythmic drugs in restoring the heart rhythm, which is only about 20-40%, and the large side effects that patients cannot tolerate. However, long-term anticoagulation therapy is required to control the ventricular rate, which may have some negative effects.
2.Direct current resuscitation
Two electrode pads are placed on the corresponding part of the patient’s chest to eliminate atrial fibrillation and restore sinus rhythm by distributing electric current through the defibrillator. Patients need to be hospitalized, which is painful, and DC resuscitation alone cannot cure chronic atrial fibrillation, and the efficacy decreases significantly as the patient’s medical history increases, atrial dilatation increases, and age increases.
3. Permanent pacemaker installation
This method does not eliminate atrial fibrillation, and the patient is still at risk of stroke; it is also more expensive, and the pacemaker has a limited life span and needs to be replaced regularly.
4. Catheter ablation in cardiology
A special catheter is inserted into the heart via intravenous access, and then the catheter is sent to the corresponding part of the atrium where the abnormal electrical stimulation signal occurs under X-ray surveillance to eliminate these abnormal electrical activities through thermal damage such as radiofrequency to achieve the purpose of eliminating atrial fibrillation. This method is effective for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, but in patients with atrial fibrillation combined with organic heart disease, catheter ablation cannot deal with heart problems at the same time, and it is not effective in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation, with an overall success rate of only 20-50%. The overall success rate is only 20-50%. The long X-ray exposure time, about 20 minutes to several hours in total, is very damaging to the patient, including the doctor himself, and the treatment is very expensive.
5.Heart surgery defibrillation ablation surgery
In any heart surgery, such as heart valve replacement, bypass, and precordial disease, surgeons use radiofrequency and microwave energy under direct vision to ablate along a specific pathway on the inner and outer membrane surfaces of the atria, preventing all abnormal electrophysiological signal conduction while preserving the original normal electrophysiological signal conduction of the heart, thus enabling the heart to resume its original rhythmical beat, and the heart muscle to resume effective contraction, so that blood can be This allows the heart to resume its original rhythm, the heart muscle to resume effective contraction, and blood to be continuously “pumped” throughout the body, allowing the body’s circulatory system to reach a normal state.
To date, tens of thousands of atrial fibrillation patients worldwide have successfully undergone surgical procedures such as radiofrequency ablation to regain their health, with an overall success rate of over 70%, making it the only effective cure for chronic atrial fibrillation that is safe, short and inexpensive.
Which patients should undergo RF ablation?
Patients with comorbid valve disease, coronary artery disease, or precordial disease that require cardiac surgery for resolution.
Patients for whom medication for atrial fibrillation is ineffective, or who have significant side effects.
Stroke or thrombosis despite anticoagulation therapy, when catheterization is contraindicated.
Patients with chronic atrial fibrillation: a long history of disease, ineffective with medications and other treatments, and a decision by yourself or your doctor to abandon efforts to convert to a normal rhythm.