DIY Pulse Check May Spot Atrial Fibrillation

Can anyone explain how to do a peripheral pulse check? I've been checking via my wrist.

[www.medpagetoday.com]

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Note that false-positive results of peripheral pulse measurement were just 2.7%, and measurement of the peripheral pulse may be a first-step approach to detection of atrial fibrillation.

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Peripheral pulse measurement -- performed by a healthcare professional, a patient, or a patient's caregiver -- is a simple, accurate, "first-step" screening tool for identifying paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients following stroke, researchers reported.

When performed by a healthcare professional or a patient's relative, measurement of peripheral pulse (MPP) was found to have a diagnostic sensitivity of 96.5% and 76.5%, respectively, according to Bernd Kallmunzer, MD, of Erlangen University in Germany, and colleagues.

Self measurement was reliably performed by nine out of 10 patients who were able to complete an MPP tutorial, with a 54.1% sensitivity, they wrote in Neurology.

"MPP offers an easy, ubiquitously available, noninvasive, first-step screening tool to guide ECG diagnostics for the detection of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAF) after ischemic stroke," the authors wrote, adding that "the majority of patients and their relatives can be trained to perform MPP."....

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Lone paroxysmal vagal atrial fibrillation. Age 62, female, no risk factors. Autonomic instability since severe Paxil withdrawal in 2004, including extreme sensitivity to neuro-active drugs, supplements, foods. Monthly tachycardia started 1/11, happened only at night, during sleep, or when waking, bouts of 5-15 hours. Changed to afib about a year ago, same pattern. Frequency increased over last 6 months, apparently with sensitivity to more triggers. Ablation 6/27/13 by Steven Hao.

Since my wrist pulse is often not as immediately detectable as the carotid, I've always relied on a carotid artery pulse for my own monitoring of NSR or Afib/Aflutter. I could tell flutter even when I was in the ER and they couldn't read the monitors correctly.

Caution: You must be very careful not to press hard. You don't want to slow the blood flow to the brain.

All I do is rest my fingertips on my neck (no pressure at all) and I have an immediate pulse check No searching around to find it.
It's totally reliable. I've checked it many times against "official" tools. Been doing this for almost 20 years.

Inexpensive, immediately accessible and totally portable.



Jackie

Latrogenia,

You are most likely doing it. Here is another article <[www.medscape.com]

Any pulse point will do: wrist, carotid, temple.

Even though I've got all kinds of electronic monitors, my first is always my finger on my pulse point in front of my ear lobe. I can detect afib in "4 beats or less."

I've felt some afib pulses that are hard to detect as afib, but usually it is cut and dried.

If I wake up at 3 AM with afib, I sometimes question whether my pulse is really afib 'cause I'm in denial and I don't want it to be so. I then check with a monitor, and of course my finger is correct. Fortunately, for me, I've not had afib in over a year.

George

Jackie:

Why is it that some people cannot feel their pulse in their wrists, I have always been able to, the beat is very strong. One Cardio said to me that I have a strong heartbeat, I don't know if that is good or bad.

Liz

Liz,

Here is some info: <[www.livestrong.com]

George

For me, the wrist pulse is by far the easiest.

/L

My wrist pulse is sometimes hard to follow.

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Lone paroxysmal vagal atrial fibrillation. Age 62, female, no risk factors. Autonomic instability since severe Paxil withdrawal in 2004, including extreme sensitivity to neuro-active drugs, supplements, foods. Monthly tachycardia started 1/11, happened only at night, during sleep, or when waking, bouts of 5-15 hours. Changed to afib about a year ago, same pattern. Frequency increased over last 6 months, apparently with sensitivity to more triggers. Ablation 6/27/13 by Steven Hao.

George:

Strong pulse can be bad or good, I do have a little higher BP, usually runs about 130-140/60, I do not take BP meds. I have read that the docs are changing the low BP requirements for older people, it used to be that doctors did not give BP meds to older people if their pressure wasn't 120/70, they know that older people have stiffer arteries, so the pressure will be a little higher, then they started giving BP meds to older people, but unless their BP is very high, people taking BP meds don't live any longer than those not taking it, in fact, the requirements for giving BP meds to older people is starting to change. My holistic doc thinks my BP is ok, so did a previous MD I had.

Liz

Liz - I have no idea why... I can do my wrist but it takes longer to locate and count whereas, my carotid is instantaneous.
My pulse is strong and steady. Bp is typically 116/68.

Jackie

Natale told me DIY is the best way to check for AFIB when in doubt; for me it's the wrist so simple to feel that steady pulse.


McHale

DIY Pulse check should spot AFIB.

My tech's when I went to the Doctor missed mine for a long time cause my AFIB was really regular, sometimes it takes about 8+ seconds for the irregularity to show itself, so Doctors or techs can especially miss it, if they only check pulse for 6 seconds or so. Some tech's check pulse for 6 seconds, then multiply X 10 to get Pulse rate.

After being in AFIB, and then back into NSR so many times, it is easy as hell for me detect mine.

NSR stronger pulse than AFIB
NSR is like Clockwork (every second) AFIB is irregular

(Irregular HR by DIY Pulse Check doesn't mean it's AFIB, Pulse Check also detects other IR HR's like PAC's, Flutter etc.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2014 05:46AM by The Anti-Fib.

When I was visiting Duke cardiology regularly from '09-'11 for consultations, their policy was usually to skip an EKG and ONLY do a pulse check, which I thought was nuts. I usually asked for an EKG. Especially since I have flutter as well as fib, it would not always be recognizable from a pulse. Seems like poor policy for any patient with a history of either flutter or fib. 3.5% is way too large an error rate when the alternative is a simple EKG.

Johnny, I agree, but insurance companies may not.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2014 12:06PM by mailman52.

All I can do is put in my two cents worth here. I got a CMS50EW pulse oximeter (recording) for dealing with my OSA a while back. I CLEARLY showed by Afib and after TIKOSYN it clearly showed by NSR. Quite the gizmo. We have a friend with diagnosed aFib who is afraid to do anything about it. I put the pulse oximeter on my finger, on my wife's finger, on HIS wife's finger and then on HIS finger and it is so blatantly obvious that he has aFib it is unmistakable. That is to say, it is unmistakable to see that he has a serious ahrythmia issue that appears to be aFib. I can recall looking at mine when I had aFib running 24/7 and it looked just the same.

So, IMHO, this $130 Chinese CMS50EW recording pulse oximeter will show afib and other arrhythmias quite clearly for the most part (I'd run and get a quality electrocardiogram and/or echocardiogram to be sure). Nontheless a good solid investment that will give you an accurate pulse rate, a reasonably accurate SpO2 and a graphical representation of your pulse activity. A good tool to have on hand. Impresses the neighbors as well.

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.