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Hey all, I am currently taking a dysrhythmia interpretation and management course so this this is all very new to me, forgive me if this sounds too "newbie-ish." My understanding is that the atrial kick occurs with atrial systole, supplying the ventricles with that last 20-30% of blood before ventricular systole, and that with atrial flutter, this is lost. I'm confused as to why this would be lost as the atria are still contracting. Is it because it is not as much of a coordinated contraction since it is the atrial tissue generating the impulse rather than the SA node, and therefore is not traveling through the normal conduction pathway? I do understand why atrial kick is lost with a-fib, since the atria are not really contracting fully and more so just quivering, but this is not the case with a-flutter so I'm a bit lost. Looking at an ECG strip with a-flutter, do the flutter waves not signal that the atria are depolarizing just like the P waves do? I'm not quite making the connection as to why this would not also contribute an atrial kick, especially if the ventricular rate is normal and the atria are able to contract a few times before ventricular systole. Thanks so much in advance!