Irregular heartbeat? It could be condition that greatly increases stroke risk

In 2003, Mr Tan Check Wan woke up to a tightness in his chest.

- Yap Wei Qiang

Retiree Tan Check Wan, who has atrial fibrillation, participating in an exercise session at the Singapore Heart Foundation's Heart Wellness Centre in Bishan, under the watch of therapy assistant Cheval Lim. Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition in which specialised heart muscles in the right atrium, which normally regulate the heartbeat by sending electrical signals to the other heart muscles, start firing erratically.

(ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN)

His wife, who was a trained nurse, checked his pulse and, finding it irregular, decided that he needed to be taken to hospital immediately for treatment.But his heart rhythm returned to normal, and the doctors could not find any irregularities with an electrocardiogram (ECG) - or even after monitoring his condition with a wearable device he wore for a week after discharge.

Later that year, Mr Tan, now a 76-year-old retiree, felt his heart beating irregularly again after exercising.

He went to the hospital on his cardiologist's advice, and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation through ECG tests.

Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition in which specialised heart muscles in the right atrium — the upper right chamber of the heart — which normally regulate the heartbeat by sending electrical signals to the other heart muscles, start firing erratically.

This causes the left and right atria to quiver instead of contract, so the heartbeat becomes irregular, and blood is not pumped into the heart's lower chambers and subsequently out to the rest of the body efficiently.

Blood can pool in the lower left atrium, forming clots.

Patients with atrial fibrillation must have the condition properly managed, as it leads to a fivefold risk of stroke, the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) said.