Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is caused by uncontrolled electrical activity
in the Atria. This causes small fibrillation waves to appear on the ecg.
The problem here is that the AV junction now has difficulty in recognizing
the atrial activity that should be there and the ectopic electrical
activity that shouldn't. Thus, you now have a situation where small
electrical impulses arising irregularly in the atria now start to be
allowed through the AV junction and become QRS complexes (and therefore
beats). So the rhythm looks irregular and the iso-electric line looks rough (full of
fibrillation activity) and the output at the patient's radius feels
irregular. 
Tip
Print out an ecg strip you think may be AFib. Fold it in half and hold
it up to the light. See if any more than one of the ORS complexes match
up. If not is almost certain to be AFib.
Tip
If it's fast (over 100pm) and irregular, then it's almost undoubtedly
AFib.
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