Why is that atrial fibrillation seems to like to run at around 150 beats per minute?
Posted by adminJan 6
As title.
How about atrial flutter? what rate does atrial flutter usually run at?
What about when we just count the qrs’s, they seem to spike at a rate of around 150 per minute. What’s the reason for this rate of around 150? Often as soon as I say the rate is about 150, people say: ah, it could well be atrial fibrillation happening.
2 comments
Comment by Marnie on January 6, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Atrial flutter isn’t a beat or contraction. People confuse the ECG/EKG waveform with a mechanical contraction of the heart. It is just electrical activity that is erratic. The atria are not actually contracting; they are just quivering.
ETA: If you are just counting the QRS complexes, you could have a rate that high. AFib looks erratic. There is variation between the QRS complexes. You may be confusing the AFib for p waves. That could be what they are correcting you on.
When someone has AFib, they no longer have the sinus node as the band leader, dictating when the heart has an electrical impulse that results in a contraction. The AV node may pick up as the band leader. It isn’t as fast as the SA node, so if you have a true heart rate of 150 beats per minute, you have a problem.
Are you in the medical field or a family member? Ask a tame cardiologist or a knowledgeable RN to explain what is going on.
Comment by Kazza on January 6, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Assuming that you are actually counting the QRS’s, and not the P’s as well, I think you should be on medication to slow your heart rate. A true, sustained rate of 150 is not a good thing.
Some times if you are in AF the rate may vary and not be that high all the time.
Your QRS’s (that is the electrical activity that contracts the ventricles) should be around 60 - 100 beats even if you are in atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation or normal sinus rhythm.
I recommend you see your doctor and find out just what is going on