Atrial fibrillation cardioversion following acupuncture

Authors

• Dario Dilber, From the Departments of Cardiology (Dilber), Endocrinology and Diabetes (Gradišer), County Hospital Čakovec, the Međimurje County Institute for Emergency Medicine (Barić), Čakovec, and the Department of Internal Medicine (Čerkez-Habek), University Hospital Sveti Duh, Zagreb, Croatia
• Jasna Čerkez-Habek, From the Departments of Cardiology (Dilber), Endocrinology and Diabetes (Gradišer), County Hospital Čakovec, the Međimurje County Institute for Emergency Medicine (Barić), Čakovec, and the Department of Internal Medicine (Čerkez-Habek), University Hospital Sveti Duh, Zagreb, Croatia
• Hrvoje Barić, From the Departments of Cardiology (Dilber), Endocrinology and Diabetes (Gradišer), County Hospital Čakovec, the Međimurje County Institute for Emergency Medicine (Barić), Čakovec, and the Department of Internal Medicine (Čerkez-Habek), University Hospital Sveti Duh, Zagreb, Croatia
• Marina Gradišer, From the Departments of Cardiology (Dilber), Endocrinology and Diabetes (Gradišer), County Hospital Čakovec, the Međimurje County Institute for Emergency Medicine (Barić), Čakovec, and the Department of Internal Medicine (Čerkez-Habek), University Hospital Sveti Duh, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and it is an independent risk for serious events. Acupuncture has been growing in popularity in the West, and there are reports of its benefits in treating AF. We report a 57-year-old man who was admitted after having an allergic reaction to amiodarone administered to treat paroxysmal AF with fast ventricular response. Cardioversion with intravenous propafenone was uneventful. Before an attempt of electric cardioversion, he was treated with acupuncture as additional therapy to peroral propafenone. After acupuncture treatment consisting of 10 treatments during 30 days period, both immediate cardioversion to sinus rhythm and no paroxysmal AF during 30 days period were recorded.

Article Type

Case Report

First Page

1351

Last Page

1353

Recommended Citation

Dilber, Dario; Čerkez-Habek, Jasna; Barić, Hrvoje; and Gradišer, Marina (2015) "Atrial fibrillation cardioversion following acupuncture," Saudi Medical Journal: Vol. 36: Iss. 11, Article 15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2015.11.12891