What is the difference between arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation?

Any of these may cause the heart to skip a beat, beat too fast, or beat too slow. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a form of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, in which the atria (the two small upper chambers of the heart) quiver instead of beating effectively.

Is AFib a ventricular arrhythmia?

Atrial fibrillation or AFib, and ventricular fibrillation or VFib, are both a type of abnormal heart rhythm or heartbeat called an arrhythmia.

Which is more serious atrial or ventricular fibrillation?

Ventricular fibrillation is more serious than atrial fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation frequently results in loss of consciousness and death, because ventricular arrhythmias are more likely to interrupt the pumping of blood, or undermine the heart’s ability to supply the body with oxygen-rich blood.

How can you tell the difference between AFib and VFib?

In AFib, abnormal p waves precede the QRS signal on the ECG. In VFib, there is a rapid irregular tracing but p waves and the QRS signal are unidentifiable. In most ECG’s, AFib results in a rapid irregular pulse (QRS signal), while VFib results in no pulse (no clear QRS signal) so the ECG’s are quite different.

What can be mistaken for atrial fibrillation?

Tachycardia – an abnormally rapid heart rate – can disguise itself as AFib, because it’s often a symptom of AFib. Tachycardia can come from an infection, heart disease, congenital abnormalities, or a number of other causes, and can easily be mistaken for persistent AFib. Anxiety or panic attacks.

What is the best treatment for atrial fibrillation?

Atrial fibrillation is accepted as the new “normal” heart rhythm, and therapy is aimed at controlling the heart rate in order to minimize any symptoms being caused by the atrial fibrillation. Treatments include heart rate control medications such as digitalis, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers.

What are the most common causes of atrial fibrillation?

Abnormalities, defects or damage to the heart is the most common cause of atrial fibrillation. Other possible causes of A-fib include: heart attacks, an overactive thyroid gland, a metabolic imbalance, high blood pressure, lung disease, sick sinus node syndrome, viral infections, sleep apnea or sickness like pneumonia.

What are the lethal arrhythmias?

Lethal arrhythmias. Life menacing arrhythmias may result in sudden cardiac death and are characterised as Bradyarrhythmias and tachyarrhythmias. Most of the lethal or fatal arrhythmias result from structural (fibrosis and scar due to ischemia) and functional (heart failure and autonomic nerve) irregularity of the myocardium.

Which arrhythmias are fatal?

Arrhythmias are characterized by their site of origin: the atria or the ventricles. Supraventricular arrhythmias occur in the upper areas of the heart and are less serious than ventricular arrhythmias. Ventricular fibrillation is the most serious arrhythmia and is fatal unless medical help is immediate.

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