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Section: Overview
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common electrical disturbance or arrhythmia of the heart, marked by rapid randomized contractions of the atrial heart muscle causing a totally irregular, often rapid , ventricular rate. In this arrhythmia the normally coordinated electrical activity in the upper heart chambers, the right atrium and left atrium, is lost. The muscle of these chambers begins to wiggle like a "bag full of worms." Atrial flutter is similar to AF, but the atrial contractions are rapid but regular. Both rhythms are very abnormal and reduce heart function. AF can occur as a single problem (lone AF) or more often as a complication of heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy) or chronic heart valve disease. It occurs in both dogs and cats but is much more common in dogs. Many cats with AF are also in congestive heart failure (CHF). Once established, these heart arrhythmias are often permanent.
Valvular heart disease (VHD) is a condition characterized by degeneration and thickening of the heart valves. It is a progressive disease more common in dogs than cats that can cause valve malfunction...
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a condition characterized by thickening of the main pumping chamber of the heart. Eventually, HCM often leads to congestive heart failure.
Heart failure is a condition, caused by an abnormality in the structure or the function of the heart, in which it is unable to pump normal quantities of blood to the tissues of the body.
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