What Is The Correlation Between Atrial Fibrillation And Ear Flutter In The Right Middle Ear?

Posted on Fri, 22 Aug 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 Answered on

Sat, 13 Sep 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : What is the correlation if any between Atrifib and ear flutter in the right middle ear . Sound flutter varies in frequency and intenity (sounds like a machine gun firing short bursts ?

Answered by Dr. Karen Steinberg (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
You might be hearing blood flow with heart beat

Detailed Answer:
Hi, thanks for using Healthcare Magic. The carotid artery runs nearby the middle ear and arises not too far from the heart. I suspect you may be hearing that flow. Since the heartbeat is irregular from the atrial fibrillation, the blood flow would also be irregular and would be like a flutter. On hard beats it might also seem like gunshots.

Sometimes a heart murmur can also be heard through the carotid artery. I presume you are being followed by a doctor/cardiologist for the afib. If not, it would be a good idea to get checked and be sure something else like a valve problem (commonly associated with afib) isn't developing or getting worse. An aneurysm would be another thing to check for.

Hope this answers your query. If you have further questions I would be happy to answer them.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E