Atrial Fibrillation vs Atrial Flutter

 

Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are both common supraventricular arrhythmias, but they do not look the same on ECG.

 

Atrial fibrillation usually has:

• an irregularly irregular rhythm

• no clear repeating P waves

• chaotic atrial activity

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Atrial flutter usually has:

• organized atrial activity

• a repeating sawtooth pattern, often best seen in the inferior leads

• a ventricular response that may be regular or follow a pattern such as 2:1 conduction

 

Atrial fibrillation is usually more disorganized.
Atrial flutter is usually more organized.

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Key pearl: If the rhythm is very regular, pause before calling it atrial fibrillation.

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Atrial Fibrillation vs Atrial Flutter Video Explanation

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