What's Atrial Flutter, and How Is It Different From Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)?
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Last updated: Apr 05, 2012
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Dr. Leslie Kernisan is a senior medical editor at Caring.com and a clinical instructor in the University of California, San Francisco, Division of Geriatrics....
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Atrial flutter is an arrhythmia in which the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) beat very quickly but regularly. This tends to cause a racing heartbeat, with symptoms like those of atrial fibrillation. The most common symptoms are shortness of breath, palpitations, and dizziness. Atrial flutter can be diagnosed with an ECG, which will show a characteristic electrical tracing.
The causes of atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation, also called A-fib, are similar, and both can cause strokes or heart failure. Although the same medications can be used for both, atrial flutter is much more likely than atrial fibrillation (also called A-fib) to be cured by radio-frequency catheter ablation.
