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Ventricular Fibrillation
Ventricular fibrillation
is a very fast, irregular heart beat in the lower heart
chambers or ventricles. During an irregular heart beat the
heart quivers and pumps little or no blood to the body.
Consciousness is lost in seconds. If not treated immediately,
irregular heart beat rhythms will cause sudden cardiac arrest.
Some
people find they have
ventricular fibrillation
when a rescue team provides emergency treatment to restart the
heart rhythm.
When
ventricular
fibrillation is diagnosed, an implantable
defibrillator is often prescribed to detect VF and then treat
it automatically.
Treatment
for
ventricular
fibrillation attempts to control the heart
rate and to reset the heart to a more normal rhythm. An
implanted defibrillator detects ventricular fibrillation and
resets or shocks the heart into a normal rhythm.
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