Atrial fibrillation
An Alert on the Wrist
A 25-year-old man reports 24 hours of palpitations and chest discomfort. His watch issued alerts after heavy alcohol consumption.
Look for
- Irregularly irregular R–R intervals.
- No repetitive organized P waves.
Where to look. Follow R–R intervals on the rhythm strip; inspect atrial activity in II and V1.
Disorganized atrial activity reaches the ventricles variably, producing irregular R–R intervals. AF can promote an atrial thrombus and embolism; an ECG alone does not prove a clot.
The ventricular response is rapid, reported as 123/min. The history suggests a trigger without proving one.
References & provenance
The ECG Made Easy, 9e, ch. 4, PDF 113–114; Lilly, 6e, ch. 12, p. 296–297.
Angad Bedi; Mohammad Khaldoun Al Masri; Hussam Al Hennawi; Shayan Qadir; Patrick Ottman; Alexander Muacevic; John R Adler. The Integration of Artificial Intelligence Into Patient Care: A Case of Atrial Fibrillation Caught by a Smartwatch. 2023. doi:10.7759/cureus.35941. Figure 1. CC BY 4.0. CC BY 4.0
Adaptation: cropping and removal of headers/annotations outside the tracing where applicable; metadata removed. Waveforms have not been redrawn.
Compared with the published source; no independent clinical validation is claimed.
Original annotations & limitations
FA à réponse ventriculaire rapide
Homme de 25 ans; palpitations et gêne thoracique depuis 24 h; alertes de montre après consommation importante d’alcool; ECG à 123/min.
Le déclencheur alcoolique est suggéré par l’histoire, pas prouvé par le tracé.