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What Cause Atrial Flutter?
I have been diagnosed with afib. Had two bouts of severe palpations but nothing for at least 3 years. I take 240 mgs on verpamil and ,25 of digoxin. Only complaint is I still have a very slight flutter on my left side when laying now. Anything I can do, to stop this fluttering/ Thank you
Tue, 14 Feb 2017
Hi There
Your heart is controlled by a natural pacemaker (the sinus node), which is located in the right atrium. It sends out electrical signals to both the right and left atria. Those signals tell the top of the heart how and when to contract.
When you have AFL (Atrial Flutter), the sinus node sends out the electrical signal but part of the signal travels along a pathway in a circular motion or circuit around the right atrium, in a continuous loop. This makes the atria contract rapidly, which causes the atria to beat faster than the ventricles. A normal heart bate is 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). People with AFL have hearts that beat at 250 to 300 bpm.
CAUSES:
Decreased blood flow to the heart (ischemia) due to coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, or a blood clot. High blood pressure (hypertension) Disease of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy)
Now regarding the treatment part we have 2 options either to control the rate with meds and if meds fails to control the palpitations adequately then other option is to go for ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL stuudy and finally CATHETER ABLATION of the focus.
Good Luck
Your heart is controlled by a natural pacemaker (the sinus node), which is located in the right atrium. It sends out electrical signals to both the right and left atria. Those signals tell the top of the heart how and when to contract.
When you have AFL (Atrial Flutter), the sinus node sends out the electrical signal but part of the signal travels along a pathway in a circular motion or circuit around the right atrium, in a continuous loop. This makes the atria contract rapidly, which causes the atria to beat faster than the ventricles. A normal heart bate is 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). People with AFL have hearts that beat at 250 to 300 bpm.
CAUSES:
Decreased blood flow to the heart (ischemia) due to coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, or a blood clot. High blood pressure (hypertension) Disease of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy)
Now regarding the treatment part we have 2 options either to control the rate with meds and if meds fails to control the palpitations adequately then other option is to go for ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL stuudy and finally CATHETER ABLATION of the focus.
Good Luck
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