Buffalo, NY (WBEN) After Arizona Cardinals star JJ Watt disclosed he was treated for atrial fibrillation, we're taking a look at how it can happen, and how it can be treated.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year helped the Cardinals beat the Carolina Panthers 26-16 on Sunday, just three days after having his heart shocked into rhythm after going into atrial fibrillation.
“I talked to cardiologists and electrophysiologists from all over the country," Watt said. "I was assured multiple times from multiple people that there was nothing else you could do. I could play like normal and something could happen the next day or never again in 20 years. So I was assured and I went back to practice on Friday and here we are.
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What is atrial fibrillation? Dr. Prajwal Deshmukh of Mercy Hospital says atrial fibrillation is a chaotic, abnormal rhythm coming from the left upper chambers of the heart. "It generally starts in the pulmonary veins. Pulmonary vents are the structures that drain oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left upper chamber or left atrium of the heart. And some of the heart tissue during the development enters these veins, and it is not under the control of your natural pacemaker," explains Deshmukh. He says the tissue fires abnormally at around 300 to 400 beats a minute, giving rise to a chaotic rhythm in the upper chambers.
One problem with A-Fib is the risk of a stroke. "That happens because when the left upper chamber starts beating in a chaotic manner, blood tends to stagnate and stagnated. Blood can form clots that can get dislodged and go to the brain causing strokes," says Deshmukh. He says patients complain of palpitations, fast heart rate dizziness, and fatigue, the most common symptom of heart failure symptoms. He says a patient can also develop swelling over the legs and also can have chest pains.
Deshmukh says there are ways to treat A-Fib. He says first is medical management, trying anti-arrhythmic medications versus rate slowing medications, and second is an ablation procedure, which is an invasive procedure done in the electrophysiology lab. He says the success rate depends on which stage you're in, and there are three different stages. "One is paroxysmal stage where you go in and out of atrial fibrillation, but stay in it for less than one week at a time. Second, is persistent atrial fibrillation where you stay in atrial fibrillation from anywhere from one week to up to a year. And thirdly, is long standing persistent when you are in AFib all the time for more than one year," says Deshmukh. He says if caught early, there's a 70 to 75% chance of maintaining normal rhythm versus if you do an ablation later, then the chances can drop up to 50%.
When it comes to younger, healthier people like Watt, Deshmukh says there's one general way A-Fib could happen. "With no comorbidities, the most common cause of lung atrial fibrillation is binge drinking. And that is called a holiday Heart Syndrome," says Deshmukh. He says it's self limiting and they revert back to normal rhythm generally. "So, young athletes, excessive physical effort, very excessive physical effort may be linked to atrial fibrillation like very high adrenergic drive can sometimes causing," adds Deshmukh.
While Deshmukh says generally a patient can return to a desk job within a week of treatment, but work that requires lifting heavy weights or excessive physical activity, "we generally ask them to wait for two weeks before they can start back up."