
What Are the Symptoms of Atrial Flutter, and How Can It Be Harmful to You? Because the Holter monitor records every heart beat over a 24-hour period, it can be used to diagnose atrial flutter and to determine how often it is occurring. If symptoms are intermittent (also referred to as paroxysmal), a Holter monitor (a small pager-sized device that attaches to small electrode stickers on the outside of the chest) may be worn by the patient from anywhere between 24 hours and 30 days. It is important to determine when the symptoms started, how often they occur, and how long each episode lasts. AVN indicates AV node.Ītrial flutter is diagnosed by an ECG. Medical therapy can slow down the rapid heart beat, and various therapies, including electrical cardioversion, antiarrhythmic drugs, or catheter ablation, are capable of restoring and maintaining sinus rhythm. Without medical therapy, every second atrial flutter beat conducts to the ventricles, resulting in a heart rate of 150 beats per minute.
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In between the IVC and the TV is a narrow isthmus of tissue called the cavotricuspid isthmus, which is also shown. The TV is a valve that allows blood to pass from the right atrium to the right ventricle. The IVC is a large vein that brings blood back to the right side of the heart. The circuit goes around itself in the atrium at 300 beats per minute and passes through an isthmus of heart muscle located between the inferior vena cava (IVC) and the tricuspid valve (TV). Atrial flutter results from a rapid circuit that occurs most commonly in the right atrium. Atrial flutter that results from these less common types of circuits is referred to as atypical atrial flutter.įigure 2. Less commonly, atrial flutter can result from circuits in other areas of the right or left atrium that cause the heart to beat fast. This type of atrial flutter is referred to as typical atrial flutter. Atrial flutter typically originates from the right atrium and most often involves a large circuit that travels around the area of the tricuspid valve that is between the right atrium and the right ventricle. The rapid beating of the atria can in turn cause the ventricles to beat rapidly. During atrial flutter, instead of the electrical activity starting in the sinus node, electrical activity begins in a large circuit that causes the atria to beat very rapidly. Atrial flutter can be caused by scarring in the heart resulting from prior cardiac disease or heart surgery, but it can also occur in some patients with no other identifiable heart problems. What Is Atrial Flutter, and How Is It Diagnosed?Ītrial flutter is a common tachycardia (fast heart beat) that results from a rapid electrical circuit in the atrium ( Figure 2).

Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).

Circ: Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes.Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB).
