atrial fibrillation versus atrial flutter in comparison

allnurses Guide · Sep 10, 2007

big sigh . . . . this is why i hate cardiac rhythm stuff . . . . people disagree about what should, imo, be fairly black and white.

you should see the different answers i get when i ask folks to interpret a strip.

i do appreciate that people are trying to help out the op . .. . . not whining about that . . . . it is just very frustrating for me personally.

(can you tell i'm going to take a test on cardiac rhythms today?).

siri - the emedicine links you provided don't show the strips very well and you have to be a paid member to see it enlarged. the definitions show though:

atrial fibrillation. ventricular rate varies from 130-168 beats per minute. rhythm is irregularly irregular. p waves are not discernible.

atrial flutter has traditionally been characterized as a macroreentrant arrhythmia with atrial rates between 240-400 beats per minute

oh, and the ecgsim is so tiny, i can't read the definitions. . . looks like i have to buy the actual product. i can see the ecg's though . . . .

NurseCherlove · Feb 2, 2008

I am not trying to be contrary either, but I respectfully disagree. I have seen a-flutter with a ventricular rate of 30 in a patient who was post inferior MI, so a-flutter is not necessarily a tachy anything.
With a ventricular rate of 150 it is very difficult to tell WHAT rate the patient is actually in, and could be interpreted as anything from SVT to VT.

"With typical atrial flutter, atrioventricular (AV) conduction usually is 2:1, making the ventricular rate approximately 150 beats per minute (bpm)." (From E-medicine).

I suppose I was thinking of TYPICAL a flutter.

Also, it's hard to imagine a flutter being possibly interpreted as v tach. But then again, my actual cardio experience is limited at this point. Well, ok, perhaps polymorphic v tach - I could see that.