Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.

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ray2600 04/12/2013

hI,
CAN ANYONE EXPLAINM ME WHAT ARE THESE TWO TERMS AND WHAT THEY SHOULD BE , I AM SEEING MY E P NEXT WEEK .

ANY HELP ON ME ASKING QUESTIONS WOULD HELP , HE IS NOT KNOWN AND I WILL TESTIFY TO HAVING GOOD BEDSIDE MANNERS.

HE SOMETIMES ACTS AS IF HE IS DOING ME A FAVOUR .

THANKS

RAY

LOS ANGELES

Steve9 04/13/2013

Hi Ray,
I believe, but I would refer you to Petey for the definitive answer, that ejection fact is the fraction of blood that is ejected from the left Ventricle each time is squeezes. I think the normal range goes from 50% to 70s. In other words a normal ventricle would eject between half adn three fourths of the blood that is in it. As to atrial size I am not sure what the normal size is. I believe that it is measured by an echocardiogram and the measurements are in centimeters. I have also found google to be somewhat helpful for questions like this. But when I google something I don't believe anything unless I have read it in more than one reputable site ( like the American Heart Association, or cleveland clinic or May clinic etc. Good luck. My first cardiologist was not very helpful so I moved on to another who treated my as well as he could and them he referred me to an EP who has been great. Good luck.

pacyetep 04/14/2013

Steve was good on ejection fraction. For atrial size, here's a chart showing classifications of atrial dilation (stretch):

ATRIAL SIZE MEN
Diameter (mm)
NORMAL 3040
MILD 4146
MODERATE 4752
SEVERE 52

petey

pacyetep 04/14/2013

BTW, it's nice if everyone has the answers to the following afib profile, both for themselves and when communicating with others on these support groups... it helps if you are asking someone a question about your situation. There are other things that could be added.

petey

AFIB PROFILE
Age?
Sex?
Years with afib?
Paroxysmal, persistent, or longstanding (more than a year) persistent afib?
Symptomatic or asymptomatic afib?
Vagal or adrenergic afib (if known)?
Cause of afib, if known ?
Sleep apnea?
Lone afib?
Other heart factors/disease?
Atrial size (if known)?
Other health problems?
On rate or rhythm control?
Drugs taking?
Supplements taking?
What treatments/operations have you had?
Do you see an electrophysiologist?

McHale 04/14/2013

My echo and stress test reports always use CM
last LA measurement was 3.0cm

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