Atrial Fibrillation

Health Risks of Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation can have serious health consequences despite optimal medical treatment. The three main complications frequently seen are Stroke, Heart Failure and impaired Quality of Life.

Stroke

The presence of AF increases the risk of ischemic stroke 5-fold and may be responsible for as many as 15-20% of all strokes. In addition, patients with AF who suffer from a stroke are significantly more disabled than patients without AF. This is highlighted by The European Community Stroke Project found that the presence of AF increased the probability of becoming disabled or handicapped after a stroke by almost 50%. All significantly higher than patients without AF who suffer a stroke.

Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure and atrial fibrillation each affect 1–2% of the population. The prevalence of both rises steeply with age. Chronic heart failure may affect more than 50% of patients with atrial fibrillation, significantly impairing the both the quality of life and longterm survival when compared with patients in sinus rhthym.

Quality of Life

The psychological burden of atrial fibrillation upon patients has been unrecognized by many health providers. It is known that patients with AF tend to report higher rates of anxiety, depression, and perceived lower quality of life scores.  Recent investigations have found that simply controlling AF medically can improve many of these symptoms. In addition, ablation of AF with both catheter and surgical MAZE and Mini-Maze have been shown to improve quality of life to a greater extent than medical therapy alone.

 

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