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Heart Attack
A
heart attack
(see also sudden cardiac arrest) is when the heart muscle is
damaged because blood flow to the heart was blocked.
A
heart rhythm
specialist may order tests to check the blood flow to the
heart and to check the electrical pathways of the heart.
Using
test results, treatment options may include medications,
surgery, and sometimes, an implantable defibrillator.
After a
heart attack, treatment may include medications to increase
blood flow to the heart and surgery to open the arteries to
the heart.
When
rapid irregular heartbeats in the lower heart chamber
(ventricular fibrillation or VF) are also found, the VF may be
treated with an implanted defibrillator. A defibrillator
detects VF and delivers therapies that return the heart to a
more normal rhythm.
People
with a defibrillator continue their lives with some lifestyle
adjustment
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