Atrial Fibrillation ECG Explained

While looking at this ECG of atrial fibrillation, one of the first things that you might notice is that there aren’t any P waves. Instead, we can see a quivering baseline with interspersed QRS complexes. These atrial undulations are the result of rapid and erratic atrial depolarization and are referred to as fibrillatory waves. These fibrillatory waves can be either fine (i.e., less than 1 mm in amplitude) or coarse (i.e., greater than 1 mm in amplitude). When they are fine and have a low amplitude, they can appear as a smooth, wavy line or even a flat isoelectric line. These fibrillatory waves occur without any association to the irregularly dispersed QRS complexes.

0:00 Intro
0:22 Fibrillatory (f) waves
0:57 Irregular R-R Intervals
1:23 Calculating heart rate
2:17 No discernible p waves - Example 1
2:34 No discernible p waves - Example 2
2:48 Atrial fibrillation with left bundle branch block (LBBB)
3:11 Ashman phenomena

Attribution: Original image of ECG rhythym in thumbnail by Drj / CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Disclaimer: All the information provided by Medical Education for Visual Learners and associated videos are strictly for informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from your health care provider or physician. It should not be used to overrule the advice of a qualified healthcare provider, nor to provide advice for emergency medical treatment. If you think that you or someone that you know may be suffering from a medical condition, then please consult your physician or seek immediate medical attention.