1. Atrial Fibrillation Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the Atrial Fibrillation Quiz!
3. Heart Disease Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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In this Article

• Atrial fibrillation facts
• What is atrial fibrillation?
• What causes atrial fibrillation?
• What are the symptoms of atrial fibrillation?
• What are the complications of atrial fibrillation?
• What are the risk factors for developing atrial fibrillation?
• How is atrial fibrillation diagnosed?
• What is the treatment for atrial fibrillation?
• Reversing the risk factors that cause atrial fibrillation
• Slowing the heart rate with medications
• Anticoagulation to prevent blood clots and strokes
• Converting atrial fibrillation to a normal rhythm
• Procedures for treating and preventing atrial fibrillation
• What is new in atrial fibrillation?
• Atrial Fibrillation - Slideshow
• Take the Atrial Fibrillation Quiz!
• Heart Disease - Slideshow
• Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) FAQs
• Patient Comments: Atrial Fibrillation - Effective Treatments
• Patient Comments: Atrial Fibrillation - Complications
• Patient Comments: Atrial Fibrillation - Medications
• Patient Comments: Atrial Fibrillation - Procedures
• Patient Comments: Atrial Fibrillation - Symptoms and Signs
• Find a local Cardiologist in your town
• Atrial Fibrillation Index

Many patients with atrial fibrillation have no symptoms and are unaware of the abnormal heart rhythm. The most common symptom of atrial fibrillation is palpitations, an uncomfortable awareness of the rapid and irregular heartbeat. Other symptoms of atrial fibrillation are caused by the diminished delivery of blood to the body. These symptoms include:

• dizziness,
• fainting,
• weakness,
• fatigue,
• shortness of breath, and
• angina (chest pain due to reduced blood flow to the heart muscles).

Heart failure

If the heart is unable to pump an adequate amount of blood to the body, as in some people with atrial fibrillation, the body begins to compensate by retaining fluid. This can lead to a condition called heart failure. Heart failure results in the accumulation of fluid in the lower legs (edema) and the lungs (pulmonary edema). Pulmonary edema makes breathing more difficult and reduces the ability of the lung to add oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from the blood. The levels of oxygen in the blood can drop, and the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood can increase, a complication called respiratory failure. This is a life-threatening complication. In patients with underlying heart disease, the development of atrial fibrillation may result in up to a 25% decrease in the pumping function of the heart.

Stroke

Quivering of the atria in atrial fibrillation causes blood inside the atria to stagnate. Stagnant blood tends to form blood clots along the walls of the atria. Sometimes, these blood clots dislodge, pass through the ventricles, and lodge in the brain, lungs, and other parts of the body. This process is called embolization. One common complication of atrial fibrillation is a blood clot that travels to the brain and causes the sudden onset of one-sided paralysis of the extremities and/or the facial muscles (an embolic stroke). A blood clot that travels to the lungs can cause injury to the lung tissues (pulmonary infarction), and symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath. When blood clots travel to the body's extremities, cold hands, feet, or legs may occur suddenly because of the lack of blood.