Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00016:reg:7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00016
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 7
Character Range: 2276–4810

7               Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates
(1)          This Statement of Principles is about atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter and death from atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter.
Meaning of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter
(2)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles:
(a)          atrial fibrillation means a disorder of cardiac rhythm, in which there is disorganised, rapid, and irregular atrial electrical activation, resulting in loss of organised atrial mechanical contraction and an irregular, usually rapid ventricular rate.
(b)          atrial flutter:
(i)             means a disorder of cardiac rhythm in which there is rapid and regular atrial electrical activation caused by a re-entry circuit within the right atrium, resulting in a regular, rapid atrial rate; and
(ii)          a characteristic electrocardiographic appearance of a uniform and regular continuous sawtooth wave-form.
Note 1: Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter can be paroxysmal, persistent or permanent disorders, with variable electrocardiographic and clinical features. Ventricular rates in atrial flutter are typically 150 beats per minute.
Note 2: Symptoms of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter typically include palpitations, fatigue, lightheadedness, and mild shortness of breath. Less common problems include significant dyspnoea, angina, hypotension, anxiety and syncope.
Note 3: Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter can occur alone or in combination.
(3)          While atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter attract ICD‑10‑AM code I48, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter is that given in subsection (2).
(4)          For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Tenth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2017, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-296-4.
Death from atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter
(5)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter.
Note: terminal event is defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.