What Atrial Flutter Looks Like on Your Watch ECG

Atrial Flutter ECG
Qaly Heart
Qaly is built by Stanford engineers and cardiologists, including Dr. Marco Perez, a Stanford Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford Cardiac Electrophysiologist, and Co-PI of the Apple Heart Study.

Key Takeaways

  • Atrial Flutter is an irregular heart rhythm characterized by electrical impulses moving in a circular pattern within your heart's upper chambers, or atria, causing a fast heartbeat that's less chaotic than Atrial Fibrillation.
  • To recognize Atrial Flutter on your watch ECG, look for a fast heart rate, a "sawtooth" pattern of flutter waves, and usually a narrow QRS complex and regular R-R interval.
  • Atrial Flutter increases risk of stroke and is more commonly seen in older individuals above the age of 50. If you think you're showing signs of Atrial Flutter, if you're experiencing irregular heartbeats, contact your healthcare provider promptly to rule out any harmful underlying conditions.

Got other questions on your ECG? See the most popular Qaly guides on the ECG:

Introduction

Hello, heart hero. In your quest to identify that irregular heart rhythm you just felt, you may have come across the term Atrial Flutter. With your trusty watch ECG now in hand, you may be wondering, "What does Atrial Flutter look like on my watch ECG?" In this guide, we'll help you see Atrial Flutter on your watch ECG. Let's dive in.

What's Atrial Flutter?

Before trying to identify Atrial Flutter on your ECG, it's helpful to remind yourself what Atrial Flutter actually is. (If you're confident in your Atrial Flutter knowledge, though, skip on ahead to the next section for some visual examples of an Atrial Flutter ECG).

To start, remember how your heart beats? It produces an electrical signal, which squeezes and unsqueezes your heart, which in turn pumps your blood to your lungs for oxygen and then out to the rest of your body.

Your heart typically produces that electrical signal from your "sinus node" to generate a normal heartbeat. Then, that electrical signal travels from your heart's upper chambers, or atria, to your heart's lower chambers, or ventricles. In Atrial Flutter, however, your heart's electrical impulses don't travel in a straight line from the top of your heart to the bottom of your heart. Instead, they move in a circle inside your atria. As a result, your heart beats too fast, but still in a steady rhythm. On another note, Atrial Flutter is also more organized and less chaotic than Atrial Fibrillation.

So What Does Atrial Flutter Look Like on My Watch ECG?

To identify Atrial Flutter on your ECG, look for these tell-tale signs:

  • Usually, a fast heart rate.
  • Flutter waves, also known as "F" waves, which appear in a “sawtooth” pattern.
  • Usually, a narrow QRS complex.
  • A regular R-R interval, although the rhythm can also be irregular.

For clarity, take a look at these visual examples of Atrial Flutter ECGs.

Here's Atrial Flutter with a 2:1 ratio of F waves to QRS complexes. See how it looks like a sawtooth?
Here's Atrial Flutter with a 2:1 ratio of F waves to QRS complexes. See how it looks like a sawtooth?

Here's Atrial Flutter with 3:1 ratio of F waves to QRS complexes. You can see the sawtooth even more clearly here.
Here's Atrial Flutter with 3:1 ratio of F waves to QRS complexes. You can see the sawtooth even more clearly here.


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Here's Atrial Flutter with a 4:1 ratio of F waves to QRS complexes.
Here's Atrial Flutter with a 4:1 ratio of F waves to QRS complexes.

Here's Atrial Flutter with a variable ratio of F waves to QRS complexes.
Here's Atrial Flutter with a variable ratio of F waves to QRS complexes.

Is Atrial Flutter a Cause for Concern?

Atrial Flutter raises your chance of having a stroke. It's usually an age-related arrhythmia because it rarely occurs before the age of 50.

As always, if you show signs of a potential Atrial Flutter, contact your healthcare provider immediately to rule out the presence of harmful underlying conditions.

Conclusion

Well, that just about wraps up our guide on what Atrial Flutter looks like on your watch ECG. We hope this could be of some help to you.

If you still need help interpreting your ECGs, don't worry, we understand how scary and confusing it can be to experience irregular heartbeats. That's why we created the Qaly app for you and for the hundreds of millions of people around the world who live with heart palpitations and abnormal heart rhythms. On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs within minutes for clarity and peace of mind.

To get started with the Qaly app, grab the Qaly app from the App Store or Play Store today. If you have any more questions, or if you need our help in any other way, don't hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

As always from the team at Qaly, stay heart healthy ❤️

Wondering if it's Atrial Flutter? On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs for Atrial Flutter within minutes. Get started today.

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Wondering if it's Atrial Flutter? On the Qaly app, human experts will interpret your ECGs for Atrial Flutter within minutes. Get started today.

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