What are the latest treatments for atrial fibrillation

Heart disease is one of the killers that threaten human health, especially in the extremely rich modern living environment, the disadvantages of overnutrition are becoming more and more serious, and the impact on the heart is particularly visible, such as cardiac hypertrophy, atrial fibrillation, etc. Atrial fibrillation is a relatively mild heart disease, but it cannot be ignored. Let's take a look at the latest treatments for atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. The incidence of atrial fibrillation increases with age, reaching 10% in people over 75 years old. During atrial fibrillation, the frequency of atrial excitation reaches 300 to 600 beats per minute. The heart rate is often fast and irregular, sometimes reaching 100 to 160 beats per minute. Not only is it much faster than a normal person's heartbeat, but it is also absolutely irregular, and the atria lose their effective contraction function. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation is also closely related to diseases such as coronary heart disease, hypertension and heart failure.

Non-drug treatments for atrial fibrillation include electrical cardioversion (to restore sinus rhythm), radiofrequency ablation, and surgical maze procedure (to completely cure atrial fibrillation).

(1) Electrical cardioversion is a method of restoring sinus rhythm by placing two electrodes on appropriate parts of the patient's chest and delivering electric current through a defibrillator. Electrical cardioversion is suitable for: emergency cases of atrial fibrillation (such as myocardial infarction, extremely fast heart rate, hypotension, angina pectoris, heart failure, etc.), severe symptoms of atrial fibrillation that the patient cannot tolerate, the last successful electrical cardioversion, and recurrence of atrial fibrillation without drug maintenance. Electrical cardioversion is not a cure for atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation often recurs in patients, and some patients need to continue taking antiarrhythmic drugs to maintain sinus rhythm.

(2) Catheter ablation is suitable for the vast majority of patients with atrial fibrillation. It is less invasive and is easily accepted by patients.

(3) Surgical maze surgery is currently mainly used for patients with atrial fibrillation who need cardiac surgery due to other heart diseases. The operation is effective but traumatic.