Atrial Flutter

Causes

Most people with atrial flutter have heart disease. Some people have coronary heart disease (hardening of the arteries). Others have different heart problems, such as:

• Long-term high blood pressure (hypertension)
• Abnormalities of the heart valves (thin tissues that keep blood flowing in one direction through the heart)
• Pericarditis, inflammation of the saclike covering of the heart (pericardium)
• Abnormalities of the heart's pumping function
• Dysfunction of the heart's natural pacemaker (sinus node)

A third of those who have atrial flutter don't have underlying heart disease. The cause is often unknown. Possible causes include:

• An overactive thyroid or other metabolic imbalance
• Damage or microscopic abnormalities in the muscles of the atria (upper heart chambers)
• Abnormalities within individual heart cells
• Abnormal electrical properties of groups of heart cells
• Emphysema or other lung diseases
• Exposure to heart stimulants such as caffeine,tobacco, or alcohol
• Rapidly firing triggers (hot spots) — often located in the veins that return blood from the lungs to the heart (pulmonary veins) — that cause the atria to flutter