Show notes
Dr. Naima Maqsood, Dr. Kelly Arps, and Dr. Jake Roberts discuss the acute management of atrial fibrillation with guest expert Dr. Jonathan Chrispin. Episode audio was edited by CardioNerds Intern Dr. Bhavya Shah.
This episode reviews acute management strategies for atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is the most common chronic arrhythmia worldwide and is associated with increasingly prevalent comorbidities, including advanced age, obesity, and hypertension. Atrial fibrillation is a frequent indication for hospitalization and a complicating factor during hospital stays for other conditions. Here, we discuss considerations for the acute management of atrial fibrillation, including indications for rate versus rhythm control strategies, treatment targets for these approaches, considerations including pharmacologic versus electrical cardioversion, and management in the post-operative setting.
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Pearls
A key component to the management of acute atrial fibrillation involves addressing the underlying cause of the acute presentation. For example, if a patient presents with rapid atrial fibrillation and signs of infection, treatment of the underlying infection will help improve the elevated heart rate.
Selecting a rate control versus rhythm control strategy in the acute setting involves considerations of comorbid conditions such as heart failure and competing risk factors such as critical illness that may favor one strategy over another. Recent data strongly supports the use of rhythm control in heart failure patients. Patients should be initiated on anticoagulation prior to pursuing a rhythm control strategy.
There are several strategies for rate control medications with therapies including beta-blockers, non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, and digoxin. The selection of which agent to use depends on additional comorbidities and the overall clinical assessment. For example, a patient with severely decompensated low-output heart failure may not tolerate a beta-blocker or calcium channel blocker in the acute phase due to hypotension risks but may benefit from the use of digoxin to provide rate control and some inotropic support.
Thromboembolic prevention remains a cornerstone of atrial fibrillation management, and considerations must always be made in terms of the duration of atrial fibrillation, thromboembolic risk, and risks of anticoagulation.
While postoperative atrial fibrillation is more common after cardiac surgeries, there is no major difference in management between patients who undergo cardiac versus non-cardiac procedures. Considerations involve whether the patient has a prior history of atrial fibrillation, surgery-specific bleeding risks related to anticoagulation, and monitoring in the post-operative period to assess for recurrence.
Notes
1. Our first patient is a 65-year-old man with obesity, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and pre-diabetes presenting for evaluation of worsening shortness of breath and palpitations. The patient has no known history of heart disease. Telemetry shows atrial fibrillation with ventricular rates elevated to 130-140 bpm. What would be the initial approach to addressing the acute management of atrial fibrillation in this patient? What are some of the primary considerations in the initial history and chart review?
An important first step involves taking a careful history to understand the timing of symptom onset and potential underlying causes contributing to a patient’s acute presentation with rapid atrial fibrillation.
Understanding the episode trigger determines management by targeting reversible causes of the acute presentation and elucidating whether the episode is triggered by a cardiac or non-cardiac condition. For example, if a patient presents with a few days of infectious symptoms, treating the infection is likely to lead to improvements in heart rate.
Determining the tempo of symptoms has further importance for assessing the risk of thromboembolism and anticoagulation consideration.
2. How would the initial evaluation be different for patients who have a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation compared to those who have a known prior history of this arrhythmia?
The acuity of symptom onset plays an essential role in these considerations. For example, a patient may describe symptoms that have been ongoing for several months, which indicate a diagnosis beyond the acute phase of their presentation and would involve different considerations than for a patient who first noticed symptoms within the past few hours.
One way to view RVR rates in a patient with longstanding or permanent atrial fibrillation is to consider this vital sign as that patient’s version of sinus tachycardia in response to another physiologic process. In that setting, you would not try an approach to directly lower their heart rate but would instead attempt to determine and address the underlying cause of their presentation.
An additional consideration for patients without known prior atrial fibrillation is that they have likely never been on any rate-controlling agents and may have variable initial responses to these interventions.
3. In cases for which acute rate control of atrial fibrillation is indicated, what is the recommended heart rate target and how quickly should we aim to reach that target?
The initial first step in management should focus on addressing the underlying cause of the patient’s elevated heart rate while in atrial fibrillation. Once those factors are addressed and elevated heart rates persist, a rate-controlling agent can be considered.
Often, a primary reason for rate control is for symptom relief since patients can be very symptomatic from an elevated heart rate alone.
A reasonable goal for the intermediate setting is to achieve a heart rate of less than 100-110 bpm. One study compared lenient (resting heart rate