Ventricular Fibrillation Research Paper

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Pages: 3

Atrial fibrillation and Ventricular fibrillation are both very serious conditions of the heart. Some people may not know there is a deadly difference between the two. People may assume that atrial fibrillation and ventricular fibrillation are the same. For the most part they are right. Both are caused by a person’s heart not beating properly. Atrial and ventricular fibrillation have many of the same symptoms such as chest pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. But the main, most important difference is one of these is a condition a person could live with, where the other can cause a person to drop dead within seconds.
Atrial fibrillation is a condition of the heart when the sinoatrial node does not produce an action potential. Due to this the atriums do not contract in rhythm with the ventricles. This causes rapid, irregular heart beats. Some causes for atrial fibrillation are high blood pressure, heart defects at birth, medications, and heart attacks. Treatments are varied depending on cause and how the patient wants to treat the condition. Medications can help with regulating heart beat. Sound medications used are Dofetilide,
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When ventricular fibrillation occurs it causes a rapid, erratic heartbeat. This also causes the ventricles of the heart to not pump strong. Due to the weak pumping of the ventricles the vital organs of the person’s body do not get crucial blood flow (Mayoclinic). Major symptoms are collapse within seconds of atrioventricular node failure, loss of consciousness, and death. Ventricular fibrillation causes are not well known but some people believe that it can be caused from previous heart attacks and heavy scaring on the heart. There are no actual treatments beside immediate response like CPR and using a defibrillator to get the heart started again. There are ways to try to prevent Ventricular fibrillation, such