What is the best treatment for atrial flutter?

Pharmacologic Cardioversion Dofetilide is effective in 70-80% of patients with atrial flutter. This drug should be initiated in an inpatient setting. Ibutilide [17, 18, 19, 20] is also effective, converting recent-onset atrial flutter to sinus rhythm in 63% of patients with a single infusion.

In atrial fibrillation, the atria beat irregularly. In atrial flutter, the atria beat regularly, but faster than usual and more often than the ventricles , so you may have four atrial beats to every one ventricular beat.

Atrial flutter is a condition where the atria of the heart rapidly and regularly beat due to an anomaly in the heart’s electrical system that usually results in a tachycardia. It produces feelings like near-fainting, rapid heartbeats (palpitations), mild shortness of breath, and fatigue .

Sometimes, atrial flutter goes away by itself and no further action is needed . If it persists, your doctor may pursue any of the following treatments: Treatment of any underlying conditions. Catheter ablation — procedure to destroy the errant electrical pathways; performed together with an electrophysiological study.

Although atrial flutter is usually not life-threatening at first , it does limit how well your heart pumps blood. This can cause a clot to form in your heart. If the clot breaks loose, it could lead to a stroke. Over time, atrial flutter can weaken your heart muscle.

Currently, atrial flutter is successfully “cured” by radiofrequency catheter ablation ; but treatment to restore atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm has been the traditional use of medications and external cardioversion.