Arrhythmia is irregular in the heartbeat. In this situation, the heart can beat fast or slow. There are two conditions one when the heart beats fast which is called tachycardia and the other where the heartbeats slow which is called bradycardia.
It is caused because of the change in the heart tissue and electrical signal that control the heartbeat. These changes occur due to disease, injury or genetics.
The most common diagnosis for arrhythmia is an ECG(electrocardiogram). It is very important to treat arrhythmia because if not treated then the heart will not be able to pump blood into the rest of the body which can damage the brain or the other organ.
Types of Arrhythmia:
- Atrial Fibrillation: It is also known as A-fib and mainly develops in adults at the age of 65 or above which happens due to the irregular beating of the atrial chamber. It produces a rapid heartbeat instead of producing single, strong contractions.
- Atrial Flutter: When the atrium does not work properly then it produces a consistent pattern in the abnormal heart conduction. It can lead to serious conditions and may lead to fibrillation.
- Supraventricular tachycardia: It is a condition of the rapid increase of the heartbeat which can last for few seconds to few hours.
- Ventricular Tachycardia: It starts from the ventricular and causes an abnormal heartbeat. It does not pump blood but instead shake with a slight rapid motion.
- Long QT Syndrome: It refers to the rhythm disorder that results in an uncoordinated heartbeat. Due to certain medications or susceptibility, it causes this type of issue.
Factors causes the heart to work Incorrectly:
- Alcohol abuse
- Diabetes
- Substance use disorder
- Drinking too much coffee
- Heart disease, such as congestive heart failure
- High blood pressure
- Hyperthyroidism, or an overactive thyroid gland
- Stress
- Scarring of the heart, often due to a heart attack
- Smoking
Symptoms of A-fib
- Angina
- Breathlessness
- Dizziness
- Palpitations
- Fainting or nearly fainting
- Weakness
Symptoms of Bradycardia
- Angina, or chest pain
- Trouble concentrating
- Confusion
- Finding exercise more difficult than usual
- Dizziness
- Tiredness
- Lightheartedness
- Palpitations
Symptoms of Tachycardia
- Breathlessness
- Dizziness
- Fainting or nearly fainting
- Fluttering in the chest
- Chest pain
- Lightheartedness
- Sudden weakness
Complications
- Stroke: In atrial fibrillation, the heart doesn’t pump properly which causes blood to collect in pools and form clots. If these clots dislodged it may travel to the brain artery which can cause fatal blockage or stroke.
- Heart Failure: If someone has tachycardia or bradycardia for a long period of time it can result in heart failure. In case of heart failure, it doesn’t able to pump blood in different organs of the body which can trigger other problems in the body.
Treatments
- Bradycardia: The doctor may advise for a pacemaker which is nothing but a small device that is placed inside the skin of the chest or the abdomen to keep the heartbeat in rhythm. It uses electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a minimum rate.
- Tachycardia
There are several treatments for tachycardia:
- Vagal Maneuvers: Certain exercises that a person can do at home that might stop some type of arrhythmia.
- Medication: Medication might not cure the tachycardia but it is effective in reducing the number of tachycardia episodes.
- Cardioversion: The doctor uses electric shocks to bring the heartbeat in rhythm.
- Ablation Therapy: One or more catheters are inserted into the inner heart by the surgeon. The catheters are placed on those areas which are an area of the suspect for the source of the arrhythmia. Catheters destroy a small section of the damaged tissue which corrects the arrhythmia.
- Maze procedure: In this process, the surgeon makes a series of surgical cut or slice in the heart. This helps to heal into scars and form blocks that guide electrical impulses, helping the heart to beat efficiently.
- A-fib:
There mainly two ways for medication for A-fib:
- Resetting Heart Rhythm: To bring the heart back to rhythm doctor may be used using a procedure call cardioversion depending on how long one has this and cause of this. Cardioversion can be done in 2 ways:
- Electrical Cardioversion: Through paddle or patches series of shock is given to your chest this stops the heart electric activity for a short moment. Its goal is to bring the heart to a normal rhythm.
- Cardioversion with drugs: In this process, medication is used called anti-arrhythmics which help to reduce restore normal sinus rhythm. Depending upon the heart condition the drug may be provided by IV or by mouth which will help to bring the heart back to the rhythm.
- Resetting Heart Rhythm: To bring the heart back to rhythm doctor may be used using a procedure call cardioversion depending on how long one has this and cause of this. Cardioversion can be done in 2 ways:
Diagnosis
- Blood and urine
- EKG
- Echocardiogram
- Chest X-ray
- Electrophysiologic testing
- Heart catheterization
