Treating Atrial Fibrillation
Diet and Nutrition
- Are Three Squares a Day the Only Healthy Way?
- Avoiding Calorie Traps
- Changing Our Eating Habits
- Mindful Eating
- Putting the Pyramid Into Action
- Choosing Carbohydrates Wisely
- Choosing Less Calories, Salt and Alcohol
- Choosing the Right Fats & Carbohydrates
- Controlling Fats When Shopping and Cooking
- Controlling Portion Sizes
- Food and Nutrition
- High Blood Cholesterol - Cooking Healthy Meals
- Reading the Food Label
- The DASH Diet
- The Importance of Healthy Eating
- Weight Loss for the Long-term
- Weight Loss/Management Center
- Weight Management Center
- What To Eat When You Want To Lose Weight
Cardiac Procedures
- Cardiovascular Center of Excellence
- Angiogram, Coronary
- Angioplasty
- CABG
- Cardiac Catheterization
- Cardiac Stress Test
- Computed Tomography (CT) Scan
- Coronary Angiogram
- Coronary Angiography
- Coronary Artery Bypass Graft - CABG
- Doppler Ultrasound
- Echocardiogram
- Electrocardiogram
- Electrophysiology Study
- Nuclear Stress Test
- Pacemaker Implant
- Venography
Before beginning treatment, your doctor may want to further evaluate your heart.
One test that may be recommended is an Echocardiogram, in which sound waves are used to
create an image of your heart, as it pumps.
The information from this and other tests will help you and you healthcare team decide on the
treatment that is best for you.
For some patients with atrial fibrillation, restoring the heart's natural rhythm is the goal of
treatment. For others, just controlling the heart rate is a safer and more effective goal.
For most patients with atrial fibrillation, preventing blood clots that could lead to a stroke is
extremely important.
To help achieve your goals, several treatment options may be recommended.
One option may be to take medications, of which there are several types that may be prescribed.
Antiarrhythmic medications may be given to restore the heart's natural rhythm. These include:
Flecainide, Sotalol, and Amiodarone.
Rate control medications help slow down the heart rate. Some examples of these medications
include: beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and Digoxin.
Anticoagulants are often prescribed to reduce the risk of stroke. The two most often prescribed anticoagulants are Warfarin, sometimes called Coumadin, and aspirin.
Another treatment option is electrical cardioversion. This is a procedure that can restore the
heart's natural rhythm.
Before having this procedure you'll be given a sedative to put you to sleep. An electrical shock is then delivered through the electrode pads, or paddles.
This single shock wipes out the disorganized electrical activity in your heart, restoring the natural rhythm.
Following electrical cardioversion, you may have a little chest discomfort, or some redness on
the chest temporarily; but overall, the procedure is very fast and safe.
Most patients are allowed to go home a few hours after the procedure is completed.
For some patients, a Catheter Ablation may be recommended. This procedure is not considered major surgery and is usually performed in an electrophysiology or heart catheterization lab.
Before beginning, doctors will start an IV. It will provide you with medication to help you relax
during the procedure. It may even put you to sleep.
An area usually near the upper leg will be numbed and a small incision will be made. Here, one or more catheters will be inserted into a vein, and guided into your heart.
To restore the heart's natural rhythm, the tissue conducting the abnormal impulses will be
located.
A catheter is placed against it, and radiofrequency energy is sent through the catheter, ablating or destroying the tissue, and restoring the heart's natural rhythm.
In some cases, the best treatment may be to ablate the AV node. This does not cure atrial
fibrillation, but it does slow down the heart's rate, which reduces symptoms.
After this procedure you may recover in the hospital for a few hours, or even overnight.
A pacemaker helps speed up the heart when it beats too slowly. When the AV node is ablated, this device is implanted to help the heart maintain an effective rate.
A pacemaker may also be recommended for some patients taking medications that slow down the heart rate.
Another option, the MAZE Procedure, is an open-heart surgical procedure that can also help
restore the heart's natural rhythm. However, this procedure is usually only recommended for patients already undergoing open-heart surgery for another reason.
Don't get discouraged if one treatment option is unsuccessful. You may need to try several
before getting your condition under control.
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