Cardiocirculatory Performance in Atrial Flutter

Abstract

Data obtained in 12 patients with atrial flutter indicate that this arrhythmia was associated with a low cardiac output in those subjects with intrinsic heart disease. Furthermore, the resting level of blood flow increased somewhat when the cardiac mechanism of five patients with atrial flutter was converted to sinus rhythm. In two cardiac patients, the response to exercise in flutter as compared to normal sinus rhythm was little different. Lesser circulation pressures in the absence of heart failure were not abnormal in atrial flutter but, in general, when failure existed, the type of pulmonary hypertension noted in subjects with flutter, differed from those in sinus rhythm. Tricuspid insufficiency did not occur in atrial flutter in contrast to its almost constant appearance in atrial fibrillation. Atrial systolic pressure waves, associated with each electric flutter wave, were ubiquitously present in all lesser circulation pressure curves. Their origin is discussed.