Atrial Fibrillation and Cardiac Arrythmias Flashcards
what are clinical presentations of arrhythmias?
- palpitations
- chest pain
- shortness of breath, exercise intolerance
- lightheadedness, dizziness
- syncope
- caridac arrest
- fever, pain, anemia, hypoxemia, anxiety, hyperthyroidism, pheochromocytoma
- treat the patient not the pulse rate
- inappropriate tachycardia: underlying cause is ruled out, consider beta-blocker, ablation procedure
sinus tachycardia
- macro-reentrant arrhythmia around a functional or anatomical circuit
- most common type of flutter
- atrial rate is 240-340bpm
- often counterclockwise
- leads II, III, AVF- negative; V1 positive
typical atrial flutter
- macro-reentrant circuit is unknown
- atrial rate is typically faster (340-430bpm)
- similar acute and chronic mangament but different ablation strategy
atypical atrial flutter
what diagonostic maneuver is used for atrial flutter?
- adenosine or valsalva maneuver- will not terminate the tachycardia
acute management of atrial flutter?
Rate control
- Beta blockers
- calcium channel blockers
- +/- digoxin
Anticoagulation
- heparin/ low molecular weight heparin
- warfarin
- dabigatran/ rivaroxaban/ apixaban/ edoxaban
when is cardioversion safe in atrial flutter?
- if less than 48 hours—> cardioversion (pt must be on IV heparin)
- if longer than 48h–> adequate anticoagulation x 3 weeks–> cardioversion
- if no appropriate anticoagulation—> TEE to exclude an atrial clot
what types of cardioversion methods are there?
electrical cardioversion
chemical cardioversion (IV ibutilde, amiodarone)
chronic management of atrial flutter
If patient is asymptomatic
- rate control with beta blockers, calcium channel blockers +/- digoxin
- anticoagulation
If patient is symptomatic
- Anti-arryhthmics (e.g, felcainide, propafenone, amiodarone)
- electrophysiology study with RF ablation
- Includes several types of tachycardia that originate in the atria
- atrial rate usually in the 140-240bpm range
- p waves have different morphology than sinus P waves
- different mechanisms: automatic, triggered, reentrant
atrial tachycardia
medical management of atrial tachycardia?
rate control
- beta blockers, calcium channel blockers +/- digoxin
- anti-arrythmics (e.g, flecainide, propfane, amiodarone)
If refractory to medical therapy
- electrophysiology study with RF ablation
- dual AV node physiology with a slow and fast pathway
- during tachycardia there is conduction through the slow and fast pathways in opposite directions
- ECG: narrow QRS without P waves or they are present at the end of QRS
- it can terminate with Valsalva maneuvers or adenosine
AV nodal reentrant tachycardia
Medical treatment for AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia?
Medical Therapy
- Beta-blockers
- calcium channel blockers
- anti-arrhythmics
Invasive therapy
- EP study and RF ablation
- indicated if refractory to medical therapy or intolerance to medication
- Accessory pathway or bypass tract between the atrium and the ventricle
- pathways are located around the tricuspid or mitral annulus
- multiple pathways can co-exist in a single patient
- ECG indicates the presence of a short PR-interval and a delta wave
- the delta wave represnet early activation of the ventricles through the accessory pathway or bypass tract
Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome
when do patients have narrow QRS in WPW? when do they have wide?
- Narrow QRS tachycardia is the most frequently observed arrythmia
- patients can develop a wide QRS tachycardia if there is anteroretrograde conduction through the accessory pathway