User:Mr. Ibrahem/Atrial flutter

Atrial flutter (AFL) is an abnormal heart rhythm that starts in the upper chambers of the heart. Generally, it is initially presents with a sudden onset of a fast heart rate. Symptoms may be absent or include a feeling of the heart beating too fast or hard, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, or lightheadedness. Complications can include stroke or cardiomyopathy.

The cause is often unknown. Risk factors include COPD, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, and endurance sports. Triggers can include electrolyte abnormalities, high thyroid, or low oxygen. It is a type of supraventricular tachycardia. Diagnosis is generally by an electrocardiogram (ECG) showing a flutter wave at 300 beats per minute with narrow QRS complexes every 2nd beat. If the diagnosis is unclear, giving adenosine may help clarify the condition. It may also convert into atrial fibrillation (AF).

The recommended treatment is generally conversion to sinus rhythm. If the person is unstable, this is generally done with electrical cardioversion. If the person is otherwise stable medications, such as diltiazem, or electricity may be used. Blood thinners may be recommended before cardioversion in stable cases to decrease the risk of stroke. Atrial flutter is often treated more definitively with a technique known as catheter ablation. Blood thinners may be stopped 6 weeks after ablation, if it is successful.

Atrial flutter is the second most common supraventricular tachycardia, occurring less than one-tenth as often as atrial fibrillation. It newly occurs in about 88 per 100,000 people per year; 5 per 100,000 in those under 50 and 587 per 100,000 in those over 80. Males are affected more often than females. Atrial flutter was identified as an independent condition around 1912 by the British physician Sir Thomas Lewis (1881–1945), though the ECG pattern was described a year early by Jolly and Ritchie.