Auricular fibrillation; A-fib

You may not be aware that your heart is not beating in a normal pattern, especially if it has been happening for some time.

Symptoms may include:

• Pulse that feels rapid, racing, pounding, fluttering, irregular, or too slow
• Sensation of feeling the heart beat (palpitations)
• Shortness of breath
• Confusion
• Dizziness , light-headedness
• Fainting
• Fatigue
• Loss of ability to exercise

Note: Symptoms may begin or stop suddenly. This is because atrial fibrillation may stop or start on its own.

The health care provider may hear a fast heartbeat while listening to your heart with a stethoscope. Your pulse may feel fast, irregular, or both.

The normal heart rate is 60 - 100, but in atrial fibrillation/flutter the heart rate may be 100 - 175. Blood pressure may be normal or low.

An ECG -- a test that records the electrical activity of the heart -- may show atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter.

You may need to wear a special monitor that records the heart's rhythms, called a Holter monitor (24-hour test) if your abnormal heart rhythm comes and goes.

Tests to find heart diseases may include:

• Exercise stress test
• Test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart
• Test to look more closely at the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle
• Tests to study the heart's electrical system

Images

Posterior heart arteries

Heart, front view

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Atrial fibrillation/flutter Overview

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Atrial fibrillation/flutter Treatment

Review Date: 05/18/2011
Reviewed By: Steven Kang, MD, Division of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology, East Bay Arrhythmia, Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group, Oakland, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)