The NIH/NIGMS
Center for Integrative Biomedical Computing

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common—and perhaps most insidious—form of heart rhythm disturbance and treating it has become the focus of a group of bioengineers, imaging physicists, and physicians at the University of Utah.

In atrial fibrillation, the upper two chambers (the left and right atria) of the heart lose their synchronization and beat erratically and inefficiently. The same condition in the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart is fatal within minutes and defibrillators are necessary to restore coordination. In the atria, death is by stealth and occurs over years, which is both good news and bad.

007Because it is not immediately fatal, there is time to treat atrial fibrillation–but also time to ignore it. While it is not immediately life-threatening, AF does immediately reduce the pumping capacity of the heart and elevates the heart rate of the entire organ. Patients cannot be as physically active as they often wish but many adjust to the symptoms and live with the disease untreated for many years.