#Chest flutter professional

In addition, some substances can contribute to atrial flutter, including alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, and cold medicines 3. What causes atrial flutter?Ĭauses of atrial flutter include coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction (heart attack), hypertension (high blood pressure), congestive heart failure, heart valve abnormalities, hyperthyroidism and/or lung diseases such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or asthma. Some people, however, don't experience any symptoms. Symptoms can include feeling of fluttering or pounding in the chest (palpitations), shortness of breath, anxiety, weakness or fatigue, angina (chest pain), and/or syncope (fainting).

Left untreated, atrial flutter can lead to an increased risk of stroke. When atrial flutter lasts longer-often for days to weeks at a time-it is called persistent atrial flutter. Atrial flutter that comes and goes is known as paroxysmal atrial flutter. We offer diagnosis and treatment in over 70 specialties and subspecialties, as well as programs, services, and support to help you stay well throughout your lifetime.Ītrial flutter occurs when the heart beats too quickly (typically 300 beats per minute) and therefore cannot pump blood efficiently.

#Chest flutter professional

Atypical atrial flutter originates from the left atrium or areas in the right atrium, such as surgical scars, and has a variable appearance on ECG in regards to the flutter waves.BMC physicians are leaders in their fields with the most advanced medical technology at their fingertips and working alongside a highly skilled nursing and professional staff. This appears as positively-directed flutter waves in the inferior leads. This results in negatively-directed flutter waves in the inferior leads.Īt times, the direction of the circuit can reverse, causing clockwise atrial flutter from the same anatomical location.

Typical atrial flutter rotates counterclockwise in direction, from a reentrant circuit around the tricuspid valve annulus and through the cavo-tricuspid isthmus. Also, atrial flutter can be described as “clockwise” or “counterclockwise” depending on the direction of the circuit. In this situation, giving adenosine will transiently slow the ventricular rate, unmasking the atrial flutter waves and allowing a more definitive diagnosis to be made.Ītrial flutter can described as “typical” (type I) or “atypical” (type II) based on the anatomic location from which it originates. When the heart rate is significantly elevated - that is, greater than 150 bpm - it is often difficult to determine atrial flutter from atrial fibrillation, atrial tachycardia or atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia, or AVNRT. This results in the rhythm becoming “irregularly irregular.” There are only two other rhythms that are commonly irregularly irregular, including atrial fibrillation and multifocal atrial tachycardia, or MAT. In this situation, there may be three P waves to one QRS complex, then a quick change to two P waves to one QRS complex, and so on any combination of P waves to QRS complexes can occur. The regularity of the QRS complexes frequently present with atrial flutter helps to distinguish it from atrial fibrillation, though atrial flutter with variable conduction of the P waves can also occur. In this situation, the ventricular (QRS) rate will be exactly 150 bpm and regular.ĬLINICAL PEARL: A narrow complex tachycardia at a ventricular rate of exactly 150 bpm is very commonly atrial flutter. Typically, the atrial rate will be about 300 bpm, and only every other atrial depolarization will be conducted through the AV node. Just as in atrial fibrillation, not all of the P waves are able to conduct through the atrioventricular node, and thus the ventricular rate will not be as fast as the atrial rate.