Atrial Fibrillation
What is Atrial Fibrillation?
The heart is a muscle divided into four chambers: two atria at
the top, and two ventricles at the bottom. Electrical impulses
from the sino-atrial node in the right atrium cause the
sequential contraction of atria then ventricles in order to
squeeze blood through the heart and out to the body. This is
known as sinus rhythm. In Atrial Fibrillation (AF), faulty
signals are generated from other areas in the heart, causing
rapid, inefficient 'quivering' contractions of the atria at a
rate of 300-600 beats per minute. These fibrillating
contractions do not cause the ventricles to contract at the same
rate, but the ventricles do pick up on more impulses than
normal, causing an increased rate of contraction in order to try
to pump blood to the body. This leads to a high heart rate