Kenneth Civello MD MPH FACC

Atrial fibrillation can be effectively managed with lifestyle changes including exercise, weight loss, treatment of sleep apnea, meditation or centered prayer, and dark chocolate! If lifestyle changes do not work medications, ablation, and surgery are an option.

Creating a Mediterranean Table requires a shift in thinking but will increase your cardiovascular health. 

There are several different types of medications that we use to treat atrial fibrillation. These include Flecainide, Propafenone, Dofetilide, Sotalol, Amiodarone, Dronaderone.

Cardioversion is a method to return an abnormal heart rhythm back to normal.  It can be performed with an electric shock or with drugs. The shock is delivered with a device that gives off an electrical shock to the heart to change the rhythm back to normal. The procedure takes place in the hospital and you will be sedated during the procedure so you do not feel the shock.

Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is a technique employed to control heart rhythms that are caused by abnormal electrical signals traveling from the pulmonary veins to the atria. It’s a minimally invasive procedure that can be used when medication fails to control AF. During the procedure, catheters are used to terminate (ablate) these abnormal electrical signals and stop them from spreading and continuing to cause AF.

Cryoablation uses catheters that use cryothermal energy or freezing to create lesions via the rapid removal of heat from cardiac cells. 

The American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) recommend catheter ablation for Afib patients when medication proves to be unsuccessful.

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Catheter ablation is a non-surgical procedure that is performed by an electrophysiologist (EP). An EP is a cardiologist who focuses exclusively on the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias and determines where the abnormal tissue in your heart is located.

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The EP places a catheter into your heart to pinpoint the source of the abnormal electrical signals. When the source of your Afib is located, therapeutic catheters transmit radiofrequency waves, generating enough heat to produce a small scar on the targeted part of your heart tissue. This process blocks the abnormal electrical impulses causing your heart rhythm disorder.

Hybrid ablation is a treatment for atrial fibrillation that usually involves ablation on the epicardial surface (Outside) and endocardial surface (Inside).The procedure uses radiofrequency (extreme heat) or cryoablation (extreme cold)  to produce lesions (scar tissue) on the heart to block abnormal electrical signals.

During the procedure, a cardiac surgeon and an EP work as a team, in a single setting. The surgeon is able to create a linear lesion pattern on the outside surface of a beating heart through a small incision. The EP then threads a catheter through the patient’s femoral vein, in the groin, to reach the heart and fill in any gaps in the ablation pattern and utilizes diagnostic techniques to confirm all abnormal electrical signals have been interrupted.