Atrial Fibrillation

Your Podiatrist is ideally placed to carry out an assessment for undiagnosed Atrial Fibrillation (AF) during a routine podiatry assessment.

Atrial fibrillation is a common heart condition that causes an abnormal heart rhythm characterised by irregular and often rapid heart beating in the arterial chambers of the heart.

During AF electrical impulses are fired in the atria overriding the heart’s natural pacemaker this causes the atrial chambers to beat irregularly, chaotically and out of sync with the ventricular chambers. 

AF increases the risk of heart failure, stroke and other heart-related conditions. Studies have shown between 1998 and 2017 people diagnosed with AF in England increased by 72% in both men and women across ALL age groups.

An irregular pulse (arrhythmia) is present in patients with AF but not all patients with AF will notice any symptoms.

Those who do have AF symptoms may have:

• Palpitations.
• Breathlessness. 
• Dizziness. 
• Fatigue. 
• Reduced ability to exercise.
• Frequent/excessive urination.
• Chest pain.

Asymptomatic or silent AF is common and patients who have asymptomatic or Silent AF may be completely unaware that they have a dangerous heart condition. Approximately 1/3 of patients diagnosed with AF have no symptoms at all.

Pulses can be felt in the lower limbs as well as the upper limbs. Podiatrists routinely palpate pulses on the foot and lower limb which is why podiatrists are often the first to detect irregular pulses.

At Feet First our lead Podiatrist palpates pulses regularly while also listening to pulse sounds during doppler investigation. If foot pulses after found to be irregular and the patient has no known diagnosis of AF or has been diagnosed but not on any treatment plan a GP referral is made for further investigation.