An ECG showing a regular, sawtooth atrial pattern with a ventricular rate around 150 bpm most likely indicates which rhythm?

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Multiple Choice

An ECG showing a regular, sawtooth atrial pattern with a ventricular rate around 150 bpm most likely indicates which rhythm?

Sawtooth flutter waves with a regular rhythm and a ventricular rate around 150 bpm point to atrial flutter with 2:1 AV conduction. In atrial flutter the atria fire rapidly in a organized manner at roughly 250–350 bpm, and the AV node typically conducts every other impulse, producing a ventricular rate near 150 bpm. Those distinct sawtooth waves reflect the organized atrial activity, unlike atrial fibrillation, which has chaotic, irregular atrial signals and an irregularly irregular ventricular pace. AVNRT can give a regular tachycardia but lacks the characteristic sawtooth atrial pattern, and WPW pattern on a baseline ECG shows delta waves with preexcitation rather than these flutter waves.

Sawtooth flutter waves with a regular rhythm and a ventricular rate around 150 bpm point to atrial flutter with 2:1 AV conduction. In atrial flutter the atria fire rapidly in a organized manner at roughly 250–350 bpm, and the AV node typically conducts every other impulse, producing a ventricular rate near 150 bpm. Those distinct sawtooth waves reflect the organized atrial activity, unlike atrial fibrillation, which has chaotic, irregular atrial signals and an irregularly irregular ventricular pace. AVNRT can give a regular tachycardia but lacks the characteristic sawtooth atrial pattern, and WPW pattern on a baseline ECG shows delta waves with preexcitation rather than these flutter waves.

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