How does atrial flutter affect the body?
Atrial flutter means your heart doesn't pump blood as well as it should. When blood flow slows, clots are more likely to form. If one travels to the brain, it can cause a stroke. A fast heartbeat also makes the heart muscle weaker over time.
What is best treatment for atrial flutter?
Currently, atrial flutter is successfully "cured" by radiofrequency catheter ablation; but treatment to restore atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm has been the traditional use of medications and external cardioversion.
Does atrial flutter require treatment?
How is atrial flutter treated? Treatments can help you feel better and prevent future problems, especially stroke and heart failure. The main types of treatment slow the heart rate and help prevent stroke. Your treatment will depend on the cause of your atrial flutter, your symptoms, and your risk for stroke.
Does stress cause atrial flutter?
Studies have shown that too much stress can raise your blood pressure and trigger AFib or atrial flutter.
What happens if atrial flutter is not treated?
When untreated, atrial flutter often leads to a rapid heart beat. During atrial flutter, the atrium can beat up to 300 times a minute, and every second beat gets through to the ventricle, resulting in a pulse rate in the range of 150 beats per minute (the normal heart beat is 60 to 90 beats per minute).
Can you live a normal life with atrial flutter?
Most patients with atrial flutter lead an entirely normal life with modern drugs and treatments.
Why is flutter important?
Atrial flutter is important not only because of its symptoms but because it can cause a stroke that may result in permanent disability or death.
Where does the heart beat?
A normal heartbeat begins with an electrical impulse from the sinus node, a small area in the heart's right atrium (right upper chamber). During atrial flutter, the short circuit — a circular electrical pathway — allows the electrical impulse to quickly move around the right atrium, causing between 240 and 340 contractions per minute.
What happens if a blood clot travels into the bloodstream?
If a blood clot travels from the heart into the bloodstream, it could become lodged in an artery and cause a stroke. If the heart beats very quickly over a long period of time, it may lead to cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle.
Can a catheter ablation cure atrial flutter?
This type of atrial flutter can be cured with a short outpatient catheter ablation procedure. Atypical atrial flutter refers to atrial flutter arising in the left atrium. Most types of atypical atrial flutter can also be treated with catheter ablation, but the procedure is longer and more involved.
Does atrial flutter go away?
Sometimes, atrial flutter goes away by itself and no further action is needed. If it persists, your doctor may pursue any of the following treatments: Treatment of any underlying conditions. Catheter ablation — procedure to destroy the errant electrical pathways; performed together with an electrophysiological study.
What are the treatments for atrial flutter?
There are effective treatments for atrial flutter, including medication or procedures designed to scar small areas of heart tissue (ablation).
What causes a heart to beat so fast?
In atrial flutter, your heart's upper chambers (atria) beat too quickly. This causes the heart to beat in a fast, but usually regular, rhythm. Atrial flutter is a type of heart rhythm disorder ( arrhythmia) caused by problems in your heart's electrical system.
Is atrial flutter a disorder?
Atrial flutter is similar to atrial fibrillation, a common disorder that causes the heart to beat in abnormal patterns. People with atrial flutter have a heart rhythm that's more organized and less chaotic than that of atrial fibrillation. Sometimes you may have episodes of both atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation.
What are the goals of atrial flutter?
Goals of Atrial Flutter Treatment. The goals are to control the heart rate, restore a normal sinus rhythm, prevent future episodes, and prevent stroke. Control your heart rate: The first treatment goal is to control the ventricular rate.
What causes a flutter in the heart?
Heart diseases or problems that can cause atrial flutter include: Ischemia: Lower blood flow to the heart due to coronary heart disease, hardening of the arteries, or a blood clot. Hypertension: High blood pressure. Cardiomyopathy: Disease of the heart muscle. Abnormal heart valves: Especially the mitral valve.
How does AFIB affect the heart?
About one-third of people who have AFib also have atrial flutter. In atrial flutter, electrical impulses don't travel in a straight line from the top of your heart to the bottom. Instead, they move in a circle inside the upper chambers. As a result, your heart beats too fast, but still in a steady rhythm.
What is a problem with the heart?
Atrial flutter is a problem with the way your heart beats. Such problems, whether in the rhythm or speed of the heartbeat, are known as arrhythmias.
What is the best way to relieve pain from atrial flutter?
Your doctor can point you toward a lotion to ease pain or itching. Radiofrequency ablation: This is a type of catheter ablation most often used for atrial flutter. Your doctor puts a thin, flexible tube into a blood vessel in your leg or neck. Then they guide it to your heart.
What is the name of the condition where the heart is enlargement?
Conduction problems. Abnormal heart enlargement, called hypertrophy. Problems with levels of chemicals, like potassium and calcium, in your heart tissue. If you don’t have symptoms, your doctor might give you this test if they find signs of atrial flutter when you’re at the doctor's office for something else.
What to do if you have a flutter?
If you've been diagnosed and are being treated for atrial flutter, go immediately to a hospital emergency department if you: Have severe chest pain.
What is the danger of atrial flutter?
The main danger of atrial flutter is that the heart does not pump blood well when it is beating too fast. When blood is not pumped well, vital organs, such as the heart and brain, may not get enough oxygen from the blood. Atrial flutter can come and go; it is then known as paroxysmal atrial flutter.
How to treat atrial flutter?
Maintain a healthy weight. Control high blood pressure ( hypertension) and high cholesterol. If a person has already experienced an episode of atrial flutter, a health care provider should be seen regularly and his or her treatment recommendations should be strictly followed .
How long does atrial flutter last?
Atrial flutter can come and go; it is then known as paroxysmal atrial flutter. More often, atrial flutter lasts for days to weeks and is known as persistent atrial flutter. With proper treatment, atrial flutter is rarely life- threatening.
What is the name of the abnormality in the heartbeat?
Atrial flutter is an abnormality of the heart rhythm, resulting in a rapid and sometimes irregular heartbeat. Such abnormalities, whether in the rate or regularity of the heartbeat, are known as arrhythmias.
What is the most common drug used for clot prevention caused by arrhythmia?
Atrial flutter increases the risk of such blood clots forming in the left atrium. Warfarin (Coumadin) is the most common drug used for clot prevention caused by arrhythmias.
What causes a heart to flutter?
Heart diseases or abnormalities that can cause atrial flutter include the following: Decreased blood flow to the heart (ischemia) due to coronary heart disease, hardening of the arteries ( atherosclerosis ), and/or a heart attack. High blood pressure ( hypertension)
When to seek medical attention for atrial flutter?
When to Seek Medical Care for Atrial Flutter. If a person experiences any of the symptoms suggestive of atrial flutter, a health care provider should be called for an appointment. If symptoms are severe or alarming, urgent medical attention should be sought.
What tests are done for atrial flutter?
Tests may include an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), chest X-ray, echocardiogram, Holter monitor, event recorder and a stress test. Treatment for atrial flutter at Mayo Clinic can involve medication, cardiac ablation, cardioversion or other advanced treatment options, depending on what doctors determine is appropriate for your condition.
What kind of doctor treats atrial flutter?
Mayo Clinic doctors trained in heart conditions ( cardiologists ), heart rhythm specialists ( electrophysiologists) and heart surgeons ( cardiovascular surgeons) work together as a team to provide coordinated, comprehensive care for people who have atrial flutter.
Does Mayo Clinic require a referral?
In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals, or may have additional requirements for certain medical care.
How to cure atrial flutter?
Currently, atrial flutter is successfully "cured" by radiofrequency catheter ablation; but treatment to restore atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm has been the traditional use of medications and external cardioversion.
How do pacemakers work?
They are small devices that are implanted beneath the skin below the collarbone and connected to a pace wire (s) positioned inside the heart via a vein; this delivers a small electrical impulse to stimulate the heart to beat when it is going too slow.
What is the purpose of a pacemaker?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first of a new type of pacemaker that paces both ventricles of the heart to coordinate their contractions and improve their pumping ability. According to the test results presented to the FDA, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT):
Can you convert atrial fibrillation to normal?
The less time a patient is in atrial fibrillation, the easier it is to cardiovert back to a normal rhythm, but even patients with long-standing chronic atrial fibrillation can be converted successfully to a normal rhythm through internal cardioversion.
Why does atrial flutter increase with age?
In addition, prior cardiac surgery may increase the risk of atrial flutter because of scarring of the atrium. The risk of atrial flutter increases with age. When atrial flutter occurs in people with a normal healthy heart, it is called lone atrial flutter.
How fast does the heart beat during atrial flutter?
During atrial flutter, the atrium can beat up to 300 times a minute, and every second beat gets through to the ventricle, resulting in a pulse rate in the range of 150 beats per minute (the normal heart beat is 60 to 90 beats per minute).
What is the term for a heart beat that is fast?
This type of atrial flutter is referred to as typical atrial flutter. Less commonly, atrial flutter can result from circuits in other areas of the right or left atrium that cause the heart to beat fast. Atrial flutter that results from these less common types of circuits is referred to as atypical atrial flutter.
What is the cause of a fast heart beat?
Atrial flutter is a common tachycardia (fast heart beat) that results from a rapid electrical circuit in the atrium ( Figure 2 ). 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 the heart rate between the IVC and the TV?
Without medical therapy, every second atrial flutter beat conducts to the ventricles, resulting in a heart rate of 150 beats per minute.
What causes a flutter in the heart?
Atrial flutter is more likely to occur in people who have some form of heart disease or medical condition such as congestive heart failure, rheumatic valve disease, congenital heart disease, lung disease such as emphysema, or high blood pressure. It can also occur in people with no prior heart problems.
Where does flutter originate?
The rapid beating of the atria can in turn cause the ventricles to beat rapidly. 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.
