Cardiac Arrhythmia - Atrial Fibrillation
The most common
supraventricular rhythm, atrial fibrillation, is usually due to reentrant
excitation within the atria with multiple reentry circuits. This causes a
loss of atrial kick due to the ineffective quiver of the myocardium. The
atrial arrhythmia has a rate of over 350 bpm – this high frequency
information is called f waves (note the difference in case with respect to
atrial flutter). There is no PR interval, RR interval is irregular but
ventricular conduction is normal in morphology. The complex is described
as irregularly irregular and can be detected through a high short term RR
interval variation and a lack of visible p waves. Atrial fibrillation is a
common cause of referral, treatments include drug therapy to reduce the
ventricular rate thus avoiding tachycardia.
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