Definition of "fibrillation" []

• The forming of fibers. (noun)
• Fine, rapid twitching of individual muscle fibers with little or no movement of the muscle as a whole. (noun)
• Rapid uncoordinated twitching movements that replace the normal rhythmic contraction of the heart and may cause a lack of circulation and pulse. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "However, for larger and faster gradients applied to the thorax, induced cardiac fibrillation is a real and serious danger."
• "Regulators and Sanofi-Aventis emphasized that physicians should never prescribe Multaq to patients with longer-term fibrillation."
• "Since I’m boring you with my afib chronicles, I should give you an update: I’m still in fibrillation but feeling much better thanks to being on a beta blocker, Toprol, which slows my heart rate and makes stairs once again no big deal."