

There are also many people who have these heart rhythm disturbances permanently (chronic atrial fibrillation/flutter).Ītrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are seldom life-threatening arrhythmias, but may be a sign of significant underlying heart problems. It is also treated in a similar manner to atrial fibrillation.īoth atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter can occur intermittently, lasting for minutes up to days and even weeks at a time.

It can still cause the ventricles to beat rapidly and generally is associated with similar sorts of symptoms as atrial fibrillation. The upper heart chambers (the atria) also beat more rapidly than normal (or “flutter”) up to 300 beats a minute, but tend to be in a more regular and coordinated fashion. Still, extra impulses often get through and this may accelerate your pulse up to 150 beats a minute or more.Ītrial flutter is another heart rhythm disturbance similar to atrial fibrillation. Fortunately, only a portion of these atrial impulses reaches the lower or pumping chambers of the heart (ventricles). The atria beat so rapidly - as fast as 300 to 400 beats a minute - that they quiver or “fibrillate”. In atrial fibrillation, the electrical activity of the atria becomes uncoordinated. What is atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter?Ītrial fibrillation is one of the most common heart rhythm disturbances during which the upper chambers (the atria) beat in a fast and chaotic pattern.
