Atrial Fib

Atrial Arrhythmia characterized by atrial depolarizations occuring from 300 to 1000 times per minute. Atrial mechanical contraction is lost and myocardial motion is reduced to a "quivering' motion that is ineffective in pumping blood. This choatic electrical eactivity generates one of the distinctive identifiers of atrial fib, a baseline with no discernable P wave. Condcution through the AV Node is variable resulting in irregular ventricular response. Currently the cause(s) remain unknown though extensive investigation about possible mechanisms is under way.

Atrial Fib - Atrial fibrillation has become one of the most common arrhythmias and has traditionally been one of the more difficult abnormal rhythms to treat. Fibrillation occurs when the atrium starts generating well over 300 signals per minute. The atrium has difficulty in responding to this number of signals and losses its ability to effectively pump blood. It is not fully understood how or why atrial fibrillation occurs, though there are many theories that are currently being explored regarding the origins of atrial fib.