What Are Your Treatment Options For Atrial Fibrillation?

The most prevalent type of significant heart arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation (AFib). It is the result of aberrant electrical signals in your heart. These messages cause your atria, or top chambers of your heart, to tremble or fibrillate. This fibrillation is characterized by a rapid, erratic heartbeat.

You may never experience symptoms if you have AFib. On the other hand, you could face major health issues. The uneven pounding of your heart might cause blood to pool in your atria. This can result in clots traveling to your brain and causing a stroke.

According to the American Heart Association, patients with untreated AFib have a fivefold increased risk of stroke. AFib can also exacerbate some heart diseases including heart failure.

But don't despair. There are various treatment options available to you, including drugs, surgery, and other procedures. Certain lifestyle adjustments can also be beneficial.

Your doctor will devise a treatment plan to help you prevent blood clots and restore your normal heart rate and your normal heart rhythm.

Medications can help with all three of these objectives. If drugs do not help to restore your cardiac rhythm, further choices, such as medical procedures or surgery, are available.

Drugs for preventing blood clots

A major complication is your increased risk of stroke. It is one of the leading causes of death in persons with AFib. Your doctor will most likely prescribe blood-thinning drugs to lower the chance of a clot developing and causing a stroke. These may include the non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) listed below:

- rivaroxaban (Xarelto)

- dabigatran (Pradaxa)

- apixaban (Eliquis)

- edoxaban (Savaysa)

Because they have no known dietary interactions and do not require frequent monitoring, these NOACs are now preferred over the commonly prescribed warfarin (Coumadin).

People who take warfarin must have periodic blood tests and must keep track of their vitamin K intake.

Your doctor will perform blood tests regularly to ensure that the medications are effective.

Drugs for restoring your normal heart rate

Another key stage in treatment is to slow your heart rate. Medication for this purpose may be prescribed by your AFib specialist. To get your heart rate back to normal, you can take one of three medications:

- Digoxin (Lanoxin)

- Beta-blockers such as atenolol (Tenormin), carvedilol (Coreg), and propranolol (Inderal)

- Calcium channel blockers such as diltiazem (Cardizem) and verapamil (Verelan)

Drugs for restoring normal heart rhythm

Another phase in AFib treatment is restoring your heart's regular rhythm, known as the sinus rhythm. Two sorts of medications can help with this. They function by delaying electrical signals in your heart. These drugs are as follows:

- Sodium channel blockers such as flecainide (Tambocor) and quinidine

- Potassium channel blockers such as amiodarone (Cordarone, Nexterone, Pacerone)

Electrical cardioversion

Sometimes drugs are unable to restore sinus rhythm or have too many negative effects. In this scenario, an electrical cardioversion may be necessary. Your healthcare professional shocks your heart to reset it and restore a normal beat with this painless process.

Electrical cardioversion is frequently effective, however, it is not always lasting. Following that, you may need to take drugs to keep your new, normal heartbeat.

Catheter ablation

Catheter ablation is another technique for restoring sinus rhythm when medicines fail. A thin catheter is inserted into your heart via a blood artery.

The catheter employs radiofrequency energy to destroy a tiny number of tissue cells in your heart that emit signals that cause your irregular heart rhythm. Without the aberrant signals, the normal signal from your heart can take over and create a sinus rhythm.

Pacemaker

If drugs do not improve your cardiac rhythm, you may require a pacemaker. During a surgical operation, an electronic gadget is implanted in your chest. It keeps your heartbeat in a sinus rhythm.

Pacemakers are only used as a last option in select patients after medicines have failed. Even though pacemaker placement is considered minor surgery, there are significant hazards.

The Maze procedure

When drugs and other treatments have failed, a technique known as the Maze operation may be done to treat AFib. It necessitates open-heart surgery. If you have another heart problem that necessitates surgery, the Maze procedure is more likely to be used.

Incisions in your atria are made by a surgeon to confine the aberrant electrical signals to a specific part of your heart.

It stops signals from reaching the atria and causing fibrillation. Most persons who undergo this treatment no longer develop AFib and no longer require antiarrhythmic medications.

Lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes are also necessary. These modifications can help lower your chance of AFib problems.

You should quit smoking or reduce your intake of alcohol and caffeine. You should also avoid cough and cold drugs containing stimulants. Consult your pharmacist if you are unsure which to avoid.

Take note of any activities that cause or worsen your AFib symptoms and discuss them with your doctor.

People with AFib who are overweight should also lose weight.