Atrial Fibrillation - Paroxysmal to Persistent to Permanent

Atrial Fibrillation is a major cause for stroke and other ischemic episodes and eventually progressing to heart failure.

Some of the known causes of atrial fibrillation are:

• High blood pressure

• Heart attacks

• Coronary artery disease

• Abnormal heart valves

• Heart defects you're born with (congenital)

• An overactive thyroid gland or other metabolic imbalance

• Exposure to stimulants, such as medications, caffeine, tobacco or alcohol

• Sick sinus syndrome — improper functioning of the heart's natural pacemaker

• Lung diseases

• Previous heart surgery

• Viral infections

• Stress due to pneumonia, surgery or other illnesses

• Sleep apnea

While paroxysmal AF is episodic, it is rarely diagnosed in the clinical setting except by symptoms provided by the patient. While persistent AF generally progresses to permanant AF, paraoxysmal AF can be managed to prevent it from becoming persistent. Using a long term cardiac monitor strapped on can capture the episodes of AF and its frequency and intensity is useful in determining the therapeutic pathway. The Audicor Patch is a wearable device that monitors the ECG and the heart sounds over period of days or weeks and can be taken off and refitted very easily.