The Atrial Fibrillation Connection to Stroke & Heart Failure | El Camino Health
The Atrial Fibrillation Connection to Stroke & Heart Failure | El Camino Health
It’s been shown that people whose hearts are in atrial fibrillation (also known as irregular heartbeats) live shorter lives than people whose hearts are not in atrial fibrillation. That’s because it can lead to congestive heart failure or stroke. What makes atrial fibrillation so insidious and dangerous is the range of symptoms can go from asymptomatic to a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath or even a feeling of impending doom. This atrial fibrillation video will define the condition and cover these topics: danger associated with atrial fibrillation, connection to stroke and congestive heart failure, symptoms and treatments, and advanced treatments. For more information on this and related topics, visit our site at: www.elcaminohealth.org/heart. Dr. Gan Dunnington is no longer practicing at El Camino Health.
Content
0.506 -> [ Silence ]
12.096 -> >> Yeah, atrial fibrillation
13.616 -> or A-fib is basically
a disorganized rhythm
17.076 -> of the upper chambers
of the heart
18.726 -> which are called the atria.
20.516 -> [ Pause ]
26.056 -> So in intrinsically, A-fib
is always been thought
28.916 -> of as a benign rhythm.
30.686 -> However, it's been shown to
people in A-fib live shorter
34.866 -> than people that are not an
A-fib what we call a normal
37.326 -> sinuous rhythm.
38.626 -> And with A-fib you have
various physiologic changes
42.856 -> that can happen to
cause problems, meaning,
44.766 -> you can have low flow
through the heart
46.696 -> which can cause congestive heart
failure which then cause you
48.966 -> to be hospitalized
more frequently.
50.526 -> You can also have
stasis or again low flow
54.536 -> which can cause blood
clots to form in the heart
56.506 -> which can then fire
off to other parts
58.746 -> of the heart meaning
the brain or the body
60.596 -> or the legs can cause
clotting problems.
67.196 -> There's a significant
percentage of stroke patients
70.386 -> in the country, has strokes
due to embolic phenomenon
74.146 -> from this clots that are
formed in the heart due
76.046 -> to atrial fibrillation
and then gone
78.526 -> up to the parts of the body.
83.076 -> Symptoms of A-fib are
varied, in fact they can go
86.116 -> from completely asymptomatic
87.746 -> and people don't even
know they have it
89.286 -> until maybe they've already
had a stroke or they show
92.406 -> up with some other
problem or symptoms can go
95.146 -> to a racing heart beat,
96.716 -> palpitations, shortness
of breath.
98.986 -> Some people have this
impending feeling of doom
101.296 -> like they're going to die.
104.166 -> And that's usually
because of the--
106.766 -> of a rapid response
108.006 -> to the atrial fibrillation,
a rapid heart rate.
110.616 -> So the symptoms can really
expand across the board,
114.576 -> but what makes it so insidious
116.886 -> and dangerous is often
times it is asymptomatic,
119.856 -> and you don't know until you've
already have a complication
122.176 -> from it.
126.606 -> If A-fib is a stand alone
issue, often first line
131.016 -> of therapy is medication
132.366 -> and there are anti arrhythmic
medications that are given often
136.226 -> by the cardiologist and
can handle the problem.
140.436 -> With atrial fibrillation
you also need to be
142.296 -> on blood thinners,
any coagulation
144.316 -> to prevent those blood
clots from forming.
150.166 -> Depending on the tape of atrial
fibrillation whether it's been
152.866 -> very short lived or its been
going on for years will depend--
156.656 -> and if its managed
by medications in
159.136 -> and of itself will
determine if you need
161.106 -> to do a more invasive approach.
162.486 -> So cardiologist first line
invasive approach is usually
166.216 -> with a catheter and
they'll take a catheter
167.986 -> up through the [inaudible],
snake it up to the heart
170.286 -> and they can make burn marks
on the inside of the hearth
172.976 -> to basically try to ablate
these areas of the heart
176.056 -> that where this abnormal
rhythm starts.
179.196 -> Patients that happen in
large chart or have had A-fib
181.776 -> for much longer time have
a much higher failure rate
184.736 -> with catheter ablations.
186.436 -> So then that moves to the next
step which is surgical ablation.
189.886 -> Surgical ablation
which is relatively new
192.986 -> from a minimally invasive stand
point involves also making burn
197.076 -> lesions on the outside of the
heart and also getting rid
200.546 -> of that left atrial appendage
which is a little portion
203.126 -> of the heart where
the clot forms
204.996 -> that then often can
fire off to the body.
207.656 -> Historically, surgical
ablation involved open chest,
211.496 -> open sternotomy, cardiopulmonary
bypass, big operation.
215.756 -> These days we can do it
216.616 -> with just a few little small
port sites about a centimeter,
220.036 -> three on each side and patient,
222.996 -> it's still until
general anesthesia,
225.056 -> the patients has
significantly less pain,
226.916 -> recovers very quickly afterwards
229.026 -> and then has a higher
success rate
230.546 -> from the catheter
ablations for A-fib.
233.056 -> We usually refer to it as a
maze [phonetic] procedure 'cause
235.666 -> you're drawing lines that look
like a maze on the outside
238.256 -> of the heart to keep
those electrical rhythms
241.276 -> from propagating in
the wrong direction.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGNn36ztZaw