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Atrial fibrillation

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Listen for: Beats arrive at irregular intervals with no pattern, and S1 changes in loudness. Try tapping along: you cannot predict the next beat.

Usually means: Atrial fibrillation; confirm with an ECG.

11 recordings of this finding. Compare with normal heart sounds to hear the difference.

References2
  1. Bickley LS, Szilagyi PG, Hoffman RM, Soriano RP. Bates' Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking. 13th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2021. Cardiovascular system chapter.
  2. Joglar JA, Chung MK, Armbruster AL, et al. 2023 ACC/AHA/ACCP/HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation. Circulation. 2024;149(1):e1-e156.