A Fib in a young person...

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

I have a friend (more of an acquaintance, but I digress) who is in her mid 20s and has experienced multiple instances of AFib over the past few years. She has required a handful of cardioversions. She has no history of drug or alcohol use, no other comorbidities.

The above is all I know. I'm not close with her, I'm not at all involved in her care, and she's never once asked me for advice or anything, so no, this isn't homework or asking medical advice.

The average age of my patients for my career is more than double her age (closer to triple anymore) and I see a lot of AF in that population, typically with a CAD history.

So my question is...why would a young person such as my friend here have A fib? I know I sound like an ignoramus, but all I can think of is some congenital issue possibly. But I feel as if she would have experienced prior issues if that were the case (unless it was previously undiagosed). Also, I don't know her family history.

Thanks for any input. I'm curious but not...nosy.

[Night__Owl, BSN, RN]

I believe it runs strongly in families. I also have a friend who is early 30s and has had heart rhythm issues. Her mother has A fib also, and iirc one of her grandparents also has A fib.

More often than not, my a-fib patients have at least one other close relative with a fib.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I have a friend (more of an acquaintance, but I digress) who is in her mid 20s and has experienced multiple instances of AFib over the past few years. She has required a handful of cardioversions. She has no history of drug or alcohol use, no other comorbidities.

Since she is an acquaintance rather than a close friend, I would say it's quite possible that she has medical history you just aren't aware of.

[dianah, ASN]

I did a quick google of this and found many references (not just Wiki! ) to this issue.

I know when we first began doing ablations in our cath lab, through my reading I was surprised to note the prevalence of arrhythmia troubles among younger patients -- apparently born with aberrant pathways that revealed themselves in recurrant arrhythmias later.

Read on!

[LovingLife123]

My grandmother had A-Fib her entire life. She had a valve defect from birth.

[silverbat]

Per my husbands cardiologist- weight lifting, sinus medications, sleep apnea all may account for A-fib.

[SC_RNDude]

Interestingly, a player for the Dodgers has had episodes of AFib in 2011,12, and this summer, all while his team was playing in the higher altitude of Denver.

Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen opens up about heart problems

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Since she is an acquaintance rather than a close friend, I would say it's quite possible that she has medical history you just aren't aware of.

This makes sense; however, she is a...how do you say it..."over sharer" Which is why I know this about her anyway.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Although a-fib tends to occur more often in older patients, I wonder if it's often underdiagnosed in younger populations simply because they're healthier and are therefore less likely to have an EKG which would detect their dysrhythmias. In general, older people are more likely to be hospitalized and/or 'worked up' in an outpatient setting for any number of reasons; dysrhythmias may just be an incidental finding. Many abnormal heart rhythms are relatively benign, and I'd imagine that there are plenty of young people with a-fib (or other rhythm disturbances) walking around who don't even know it simply because they've never had an EKG. As others have said, I'm guessing the incidence may be higher depending on genetic predisposition, minor undiagnosed cardiac anomalies, meds, electrolyte imbalances, etc.

I've seen a teen with spontaneous, self-resolving 5 to 20 beat runs of v-tach every 10 minutes or so. His rhythm was an incidental finding while he was being worked up for something unrelated. It was theorhetically possible that he could arrest from any of his v-tach runs, but clinically there was never any change in his assessment. In theory, had he not been worked up for a different condition, he may never have found out about his wonky rhythm.

[humerusRN]

Per my husbands cardiologist- weight lifting, sinus medications, sleep apnea all may account for A-fib.

Several years ago, my husband had a random episode of A-fib with RVR.

His cardiologist says he occasionally sees young people that have a random episode and never see another one!

That being said, my husband had taken benadryl for a rash the day of... and I swear, SWEAR - it was the benadryl. To this day, I will not let him NEAR benadryl (or sudafed, lol).

[popopopo]

Conduction problems can be secondary to drugs, but don't know your friend. A defect called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (the thing that kills young athletes), can mimic aortic stenosis which would cause mitral regurg and affect the atrium. If she's an athlete, this would be more likely.

[NurseBlaq]

I've been suffering Afib since late 20s. I think it's genetic but thyroid and heart disease didn't make it any better.