Atrial fibrillation history and symptoms

Atrial Fibrillation Microchapters
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Approximately 90% of episodes of atrial fibrillation are asymptomatic. The section below describes the constellation of symptoms (usually palpitations) when they do occur.

History

Patients can be grouped into two broad classes:

• Those who are entirely asymptomatic when they are in atrial fibrillation (in which case the atrial fibrillation is found as an incidental finding on an electrocardiogram or physical examination)
• Those who have clear symptoms and can pinpoint the time at which an episode of atrial fibrillation begins and when they revert to normal sinus rhythm.

Symptoms

When symptoms are present, the include:

• Palpitations
• Chest pain
• Dyspnea
• Exercise intolerance
• Fatigue
• Lightheadedness
• Syncope: Syncope is an uncommon but serious complication that is usually associated with sinus node dysfunction or hemodynamic obstruction, such as valvular aortic stenosis, HCM, cerebrovascular disease, or an accessory AV pathway.

Atrial fibrillation is usually accompanied by symptoms related to the rapid heart rate. Rapid and irregular heart rates may be perceived as palpitations, exercise intolerance, and occasionally produce angina (if the rate is faster and puts the heart under strain) and congestive symptoms of shortness of breath or edema. Sometimes the arrhythmia will be identified only with the onset of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA, stroke symptoms resolving within 24 hours). It is not uncommon to identify atrial fibrillation on a routine physical examination or electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG), as it may be asymptomatic in many cases.