Ms. Zhao, 55, is always flustered and her heartbeat is very chaotic.
When I went to the hospital to do an electrocardiogram, the heart rate was 110 beats per minute, and the heart rhythm was irregular.
The doctor said it was atrial fibrillation. It was then observed for a period of time that the use of drugs did not return atrial fibrillation to a normal sinus rhythm. Doctors recommended long-term anticoagulation, that is, to prevent blood clots and prevent cerebral infarction. At the same time taking a drug of the lore class that controls the heart rate.
After 3 months of treatment, Ms. Zhao's palpitation symptoms disappeared, and she went to the hospital for re-examination, and the result was that the ECG was still atrial fibrillation. The doctor said: You have to continue to take the medicine, even if you don't have the symptoms of panic, you have to continue to take the medicine.
Ms. Zhao took the medicine for another 3 months, and she felt that there was no change, on the contrary, sometimes there was a blue and purple piece on her arms and legs. The doctor has also explained that this may be caused by drugs, because eating anticoagulant drugs, there may be a small range of subcutaneous bleeding, the problem is not big, do not worry.
But Ms. Zhao felt that there was no difference between taking medicine and not taking medicine, and the drug had side effects, so she stopped taking anticoagulants.
One day six months after stopping the drug, Ms. Zhao suddenly fainted in the toilet, sent to the hospital, ruled out the heart disease caused, and did a brain CT, indicating cerebral infarction.
Finally, the comprehensive consideration is that it is cerebral infarction caused by atrial fibrillation due to irregular heart rhythm. Now Ms. Zhao is still living in the guardianship unit and is not out of danger.
First, the atrial fibrillation of the heart rhythm, why can it also cause cerebral infarction?
1, the heart rhythm is not uniform, not necessarily atrial fibrillation, our healthy heart, the rhythm of beating is called sinus rhythm, in general, the beating is relatively neat. So for the most part, our normal ECG is sinus rhythm. But even if sinus arrhythmias occur, it is not necessarily heart disease, and most sinus arrhythmias are not heart disease.
2, atrial fibrillation, is a common arrhythmia, simply put, the heart is beating disorderly, there is no law to speak of. Most patients, like Ms. Zhao, will have a feeling of panic and rapid heartbeat. Diagnosing atrial fibrillation is also relatively simple, and the diagnosis can be confirmed by an electrocardiogram. Of course, there are a very small number of patients with atrial fibrillation, without any feeling, then he will not panic, will not go to the doctor, will not do an electrocardiogram, it is difficult to find in time.
3. The harm of atrial fibrillation is not just as simple as causing patients to panic and rapid heartbeat. Atrial fibrillation is because the heart cannot beat normally, then the heart is prone to blood clots. Once the heart has a blood clot, this blood clot may fall off and fall off. After the blood clot falls, it will run to the cerebral blood vessel with the flow of blood vessels, blocking the cerebral blood vessels, and cerebral thrombosis will occur, that is, cerebral infarction.
Statistics show that 20% of cerebral infarction and cardiogenic thrombosis are mainly related to atrial fibrillation. Patients with atrial fibrillation have a 5-fold higher risk of cerebral infarction than patients without atrial fibrillation. Patients with atrial fibrillation also have a 2-fold increased risk of heart failure.
2. Why does atrial fibrillation occur? How can Atrial Fibrillation be prevented?
Many heart diseases can lead to atrial fibrillation, such as our common hypertension, coronary heart disease, wind heart disease, valvular disease, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary heart disease and so on can lead to atrial fibrillation. Hyperthyroidism is also one of the most common causes of atrial fibrillation, and age itself is a factor in atrial fibrillation. With the increase of our age, even if there is no disease, there may be atrial fibrillation, such as Lao Bai in the United States, which has no underlying heart disease itself, because of old age, atrial fibrillation.
Age factors, we can not prevent. But for cardiovascular aspects, we can prevent it, such as early detection and early control of hypertension, regular treatment of various heart diseases, control of hyperthyroidism, etc. can prevent the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.
3. How to treat atrial fibrillation?
Most atrial fibrillation is incurable, meaning that once atrial fibrillation occurs, most people have lifelong atrial fibrillation. Except for a few people who can cure atrial fibrillation through radiofrequency ablation, most people will carry atrial fibrillation for a lifetime.
Not all atrial fibrillation is suitable for radiofrequency ablation, and only a small proportion of atrial fibrillation is suitable for radiofrequency, and the cost is high, the success rate is relatively low, and there is a possibility of recurrence.
Most treatments for atrial fibrillation are broadly divided into two types:
1. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, that is, a burst of atrial fibrillation, a burst of normal sinus rhythm, this atrial fibrillation, generally to prevent the occurrence of atrial fibrillation drugs, such as amiodarone, propafenone and so on.
2, persistent or permanent atrial fibrillation, that is, has been atrial fibrillation, this atrial fibrillation, the main risk comes from thrombosis, so antithrombosis is the mainstay, the current commonly used antithrombotic drugs: warfarin, darbigatran, rivaroxaban and so on.
The drug that Ms. Zhao was given was an anticoagulant drug, but Ms. Zhao thought that she did not have to take medicine without feeling. As we said above, as atrial fibrillation continues, many people's feelings of panic and heartbeat will disappear. So Ms. Zhao later did not panic to go to the ELECTROCARDI or atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation does not feel, does not mean that there is no harm, as long as the heart is beating in atrial fibrillation, then there will be a risk of thrombosis, will be long-term or even lifelong anticoagulant drugs, prevention of blood clots, prevention of cerebral infarction.
Radiofrequency ablation surgery we mentioned above is a method of radical atrial fibrillation, in addition, you can also choose left atrial appendage occlusion according to the specific situation, which is a surgery to prevent thrombosis.
In short, when our heart rhythm is not synchronized and panicking, do an electrocardiogram, if the electrocardiogram prompts atrial fibrillation, then we must pay attention to it, and we must treat it regularly, so as not to cause thrombosis caused by atrial fibrillation, resulting in cerebral infarction hemiplegia, coma, regret!