Glossary
- Atrial fibrillation (AF)
- An abnormal heart rhythm originating in the atria. Control of the heart rhythm is taken away from the sinus node pacemaker by electrical events in other areas of the atria, resulting in rapid, unsynchronised and irregular atrial stimulations. There is no coordinated contraction, and only a proportion of the impulses are conducted through the atrioventricular node, resulting in a variable and often increased ventricular contraction rate.