Overview of Ventricular Fibrillation
Ventricular fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia. A ventricular fibrillation affects the lower two chambers of the heart — the ventricles. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center explains that in a healthy heart, blood is pumped in and out of the chambers in an even way.
The even flow of blood through the chambers ensures that in turn, blood flows steadily through the body.
When a heart experiences a ventricular fibrillation, the heart does not pump blood as evenly as it should. During a ventricular fibrillation, the heart’s ventricles quiver (fibrillate), in response to the heart’s electrical signals.
This quivering prevents blood from pumping out evenly to the rest of the body.
Symptoms
Symptoms of ventricular fibrillation include dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, and heart attack. Ventricular fibrillations can occur several times in some people, in an occurrence called an “electrical storm.”
Causes
A ventricular fibrillation can occur when the heart does not get enough blood and becomes electrically unstable. This can lead to fibrillation. Most commonly a ventricular fibrillation occurs during or after a heart attack.
Ventricular fibrillations can also occur with other conditions including heart failure, heart valve disease, genetic diseases, or electrolyte problems.
People at highest risk for ventricular fibrillation include those with weak hearts, those with a history of heart attacks, those who have certain genetic diseases, or patients taking medications that can negatively affect the heart.
Treatment
Treatment for ventricular fibrillation starts immediately after the condition occurs. After someone experiences a ventricular fibrillation, CPR may be necessary to ensure that blood travels from the heart to other parts of the body .
Once ventricular fibrillation has been diagnosed, defibrillation may be employed to restore your heart’s normal rhythm. Defibrillation is an electrical shock applied to the heart.
After the initial incident, steps may be taken to prevent a ventricular fibrillation from occurring again, or to reduce the likelihood of recurrence. The treatments can include medication, or the use of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, a device permanently implanted into the body that delivers an electrical shock to restore the heart’s normal rhythm.
Other surgical procedures may be used to help prevent the condition from recurring.
Possible Complications of Ventricular Fibrillation
In a ventricular fibrillation, blood does not properly reach organs of the body. This can quickly cause serious problems, and can damage other organs and body systems. This damage may not be able to be reversed.
In severe cases, ventricular fibrillation may be fatal. In less severe cases, ventricular fibrillation can be linked to future fainting spells.
Legal Issues
A medication used to treat ventricular fibrillation is amiodarone. Amiodarone is also sold under the brand names Cordarone, Pacerone, and Nexterone. Unfortunately, amiodarone may be linked to serious side effects.
Some patients have filed lawsuits stemming from amiodarone’s negative affects. Allegedly, the drug was approved as a “last resort” drug because of the potential for serious side effects such as lung toxicity, liver failure, and damage to the central nervous system.
Endocrinology Advisor reports that recent research indicates that young people who were treated with amiodarone have an elevated risk of developing thyroid problems.
Some patients have claimed the risks for these conditions associated with amiodarone use are serious, and sometimes even fatal.
