Atrial fibrillation is the most common serious heart rhythm disturbance. The good news is that you can live with atrial fibrillation. Your treatment may consist of medications—or you may opt for one of the exciting new procedures.

How much do you know about atrial fibrillation? Take this quiz devised by Douglas Esberg, MD, FACC, a cardiologist and arrhythmia specialist at Main Line Health Heart Center’s Lankenau and Riddle Memorial Hospitals, to find out.

1. Atrial fibrillation originates in the upper chambers of the heart.
     
   Correct! Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which the heart’s upper chambers, the atria, beat erratically, causing the atria to contract rapidly and chaotically instead of in a regular normal rhythm.
   Incorrect. Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which the heart’s upper chambers, the atria, beat erratically, causing the atria to contract rapidly and chaotically instead of in a regular normal rhythm.
2. If you have atrial fibrillation, you’ll know it. Its symptoms are unmistakable.
     
   Incorrect. Atrial fibrillation has some definite symptoms, including excessive fatigue, shortness of breath, dizzy spells, heart palpitations, chest pain and confusion, but sometimes, patients have no symptoms at all, or they overlook their symptoms or mistake them for something else.
   Correct! Atrial fibrillation has some definite symptoms, including excessive fatigue, shortness of breath, dizzy spells, heart palpitations, chest pain and confusion, but sometimes, patients have no symptoms at all, or they overlook their symptoms or mistake them for something else.
3. Having atrial fibrillation increases your risk of stroke.
     
   Correct! Atrial fibrillation triggers about 100,000 strokes a year in the United States among the 3 million Americans with the disorder. When the heart fails to contract regularly, it is less effective in pumping blood out of the left atria. The blood left behind has a tendency to pool or clot, and if a clot breaks off and travels to the brain, a stroke can occur. Taking a blood thinner, usually warfarin, lowers the risk of stroke.
   Incorrect. Atrial fibrillation triggers about 100,000 strokes a year in the United States among the 3 million Americans with the disorder. When the heart fails to contract regularly, it is less effective in pumping blood out of the left atria. The blood left behind has a tendency to pool or clot, and if a clot breaks off and travels to the brain, a stroke can occur. Taking a blood thinner, usually warfarin, lowers the risk of stroke.
4. If you have atrial fibrillation, your heart is constantly in an irregular rhythm.
     
   Incorrect. Atrial fibrillation can be either sporadic or chronic. If your condition is sporadic, your symptoms can come and go. They may last for a few minutes or hours, and then stop on their own. If your condition is chronic, your heartbeat is consistently irregular.
   Correct! Atrial fibrillation can be either sporadic or chronic. If your condition is sporadic, your symptoms can come and go. They may last for a few minutes or hours, and then stop on their own. If your condition is chronic, your heartbeat is consistently irregular.
5. Atrial fibrillation is a problem with the heart’s electrical system.
     
   Correct! Electrical signals that travel in an orderly route through the heart muscles control your heartbeat. The sinus node, a group of cells in the upper right chamber, is the pacemaker, producing an impulse that starts each beat. When you have atrial fibrillation, the signals to the upper chambers, the atria, are chaotic. As a result, instead of a normal beat, the atria quiver and fail to effectively pump blood out of the chambers.
   Incorrect. Electrical signals that travel in an orderly route through the heart muscles control your heartbeat. The sinus node, a group of cells in the upper right chamber, is the pacemaker, producing an impulse that starts each beat. When you have atrial fibrillation, the signals to the upper chambers, the atria, are chaotic. As a result, instead of a normal beat, the atria quiver and fail to effectively pump blood out of the chambers.
6. A cause can always be found for atrial fibrillation.
     
   Incorrect. There are many known causes of atrial fibrillation: advancing age, any underlying heart condition including high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, other medical conditions, medications, and excessive alcohol use, especially binge drinking. But there are many patients with atrial fibrillation who have no apparent heart disease or other underlying cause, a situation called lone atrial fibrillation. Sometimes, they don’t find out they have atrial fibrillation until they’re at the doctor’s for a routine check-up.
   Correct! There are many known causes of atrial fibrillation: advancing age, any underlying heart condition including high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, other medical conditions, medications, and excessive alcohol use, especially binge drinking. But there are many patients with atrial fibrillation who have no apparent heart disease or other underlying cause, a situation called lone atrial fibrillation. Sometimes, they don’t find out they have atrial fibrillation until they’re at the doctor’s for a routine check-up.

• Request an appointment with a Main Line Health specialist.
• Read more about atrial fibrillation in the MLH Health Resources.