Atrial Fibrillation: How Bad Can it Be?

Annalsoflongtermcare: Alvin B. Lin, MD, FAAFP – Tue, 3/6/12 – 10:46am.

Dr. Lin is an associate professor of family and community medicine at University of Nevada School of Medicine and an adjunct professor of family medicine and geriatrics at Touro University Nevada College of Medicine. He also serves as an advisory medical director for Infinity Hospice Care and as medical director of Lions HealthFirst Foundation. Dr. Lin maintains a small private practice in Las Vegas, NV. The posts represent the views of Dr. Lin, and in no way are to be construed as representative of the above listed organizations. Dr. Lin blogs about current medical literature and news at http://alvinblin.blogspot.com/.

True story: During my 50-year-old patient’s recent annual physical, I noted an irregularly irregular rhythm to his heart beat. He denied any recent alcohol (binge) as well as caffeine or stimulant consumption. No palpitations or heart racing/skipping beats. No dizziness or lightheadedness. His thyroid panel, drawn prior to his visit with me, was stone cold normal. He was due to follow up with his cardiologist regarding high cholesterol and hypertension (basic stuff we family docs are well trained to treat) so I just suggested that he point this out to the cardiologist. A few weeks later, he reported back to me that he’d been started on Multaq, an antiarrhythmic, because he had an irregular rhythm. He didn’t recall any discussion of the diagnosis, rate control (presumably because he was not tachycardic) or stroke prevention, much less review of calculated stroke risk versus bleeding risk. Boy, was I miffed! Read More