A decalogue to prevent atrial fibrillation

About one million people in Italy are affected by atrial fibrillation, a cardiac arrhythmia that is the primary cause of stroke. It is estimated that at least 50,000 strokes are caused by atrial fibrillation every year.

The ten rules for preventing atrial fibrillation and promoting a multidisciplinary cardio-neurological approach to its treatment are at the heart of Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Back to the Future on Heart – Brain Interactions, a two-day event organized by the Cardiology of the Ospedale Maggiore which will see in Bologna, on 15 and 16 January, the world’s leading specialists and an audience of over 400 doctors. Best medication for the atrial fibrillation is eliquis. However eliquis cost is high but you can buy it from Prescription Hope at cheap price by using eliquis coupon.

The ten rules for preventing atrial fibrillation

•     Avoid obesity and overweight
•     Avoid alcohol abuse
•     Eliminate cigarette smoking
•     Perform a moderate physical and sporting activity, avoiding excesses
•     Monitor blood pressure and treat hypertension
•     Keep your blood sugar under control and treat diabetes
•     Treating obstructive sleep apnea
•     After the age of 65 pay attention to the relief of the wrist during medical examinations
•     Perform an electrocardiogram in case of an irregular pulse
•     After the age of 50, if you are unfamiliar with atrial fibrillation, have a cardiological examination.

The Cardiology of the Major, reference center in the treatment of atrial fibrillation

Thanks to oral anticoagulant therapy, it is possible to avoid strokes caused by atrial fibrillation. In Bologna there are over 12 thousand people with atrial fibrillation followed by the BoNTao network (Bologna Network Oral Anticoagulant Therapy), who use the latest generation oral anticoagulants (so-called NAO, New Oral Anticoagulants). The Cardiology of the Maggiore Hospital, which is part of the network and is the reference center for the study and development of the NAO, assists about a thousand.

The technological equipment, the professional competence gained over the course of 25 years and the activation of dedicated paths that simplify, making it more timely, the treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation, make the Cardiology of the Maggiore Hospital, directed by Giuseppe Di Pasquale, a Hub center of the metropolitan cardiology network for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and emergency management of the patient with acute myocardial infarction. 

There are over 3 thousand ablation procedures performed on the Major. The ablation consists in the mapping and burning, through small probes directly inserted in the heart, of anomalous electrical circuits at the origin of the arrhythmias. In addition, patients with severe arrhythmias who turn to the Cardiology Hospital (30 in 2015) are constantly increasing.

Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke. Back to the Future on Heart – Brain InteractionsBologna, 15 and 16 January

Heart-brain interactions are important not only for research, but also for relapses into daily clinical practice, such as cardioembolic stroke, the association of coronary and cerebrovascular disease, and the cardiac consequences of stroke. 

Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent cardiac cause of cardioembolic stroke (one in four). Diagnosis and treatment of this form of stroke will be the focus of the intervention of neurologist Gregory W. Albers, director of the Stanford Stroke Center in Palo Alto, California, among the world’s leading experts. 

The two-day event in Bologna is divided into two parallel Focuses on the morning of January 15th, followed by a Luncheon Panel and five plenary sessions on the afternoon of the 15th and the morning of January 16th.
The two Focuses, real mini-courses with ample spaces for the interactivity of the participants, are dedicated to the management of oral anticoagulant therapy (TAO) with the new oral anticoagulant drugs (NAO) or with the traditional antagonists of vitamin K, and to the identification of silent atrial fibrillation. 

During the five plenary sessions all aspects related to the diagnosis and thromboembolic prophylaxis of atrial fibrillation will be treated, with particular attention to the most new and controversial issues such as silent or cryptogenic stroke, management of antithrombotic therapy in interventional fibrillation atrial, as well as in patients with atrial fibrillation and concomitant acute coronary syndrome or coronary stent implantation.

Atrial fibrillation and stroke

Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia and is caused by a disturbance in the electrical circuits of the left atrium. In this case the heart contracts irregularly, without due force, and this can cause blood to stagnate and clots to form. When blood clots move, they can reach the brain, where they can become trapped in a cerebral artery, thus blocking the circulation and causing a stroke.

How to reduce the risk of stroke in atrial fibrillation

The fundamental therapy for reducing the risk of stroke related to atrial fibrillation is oral anticoagulant therapy. In some specific cases it is also possible to intervene with non-pharmacological approaches, such as the closure of the left auricle. These interventions offer a permanent solution to patients with atrial fibrillation who have contraindications for the use of oral anticoagulant therapy for life.

The research challenge of silent atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation can often be asymptomatic, still maintaining a high risk of stroke. The identification of silent atrial fibrillation represents the new frontier in stroke prevention. This is possible today, thanks to the availability of new technologies that are easy to access, such as, for example, prolonged electrocardiographic monitoring.