I48.3: Typical atrial flutter
You have been having atrial flutters.
The heart pumps blood through the body. Inside the heart are 4 chambers. There are 2 heart atria and 2 ventricles. Both heart atria and both ventricles are separated from each other by a partition. The electrical currents flow through the heart. The heart's electrical activity causes the heart muscle to contract. It begins at a site in your right atrium. Initially the electrical activity spreads to both atria. The electrical activity then flows on via a sort of cable to the ventricles.
Atrial flutters are a heart rhythm disorder. With atrial flutters, the electrical pulses in the atria follow one another too rapidly and they go in a loop. As a result, the atria are only able to contract in a limited way or are entirely unable to contract. With atrial flutters, not every cardiac pulse goes to the ventricles. Nonetheless, with heart flutters the ventricles typically beat too quickly. But the heart may also beat at its normal speed or too slowly. If the heart beats irregularly, each beat pumps different volumes of blood to the body.
There can be various reasons for atrial flutters. Reasons include, for example, other heart conditions and thyroid gland disorders. Atrial flutters can also occur for no particular reason.
Atrial flutters can cause various problems. For example, you can experience palpitations or an irregular heartbeat. You may feel dizzy or restless. You may become less productive. The atrial flutters can damage the heart muscle. This can typically happen in the case of long-term atrial flutters, when the heart beats too quickly over a long period of time. Atrial flutters can cause blood clots to form in the atria of the heart. A blood clot is a clump of clotted blood. The blood clots can move from the heart into the body and cause problems.
Additional indicator
On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.
- G: Confirmed diagnosis
- V: Tentative diagnosis
- Z: Condition after
- A: Excluded diagnosis
- L: Left
- R: Right
- B: Both sides
Further information
Note
This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.
Source
Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).
