Heart arrhythmias are problems with your heart rhythm and they occur when the electrical impulses that coordinate your heartbeats aren’t working as they should. Heart arrhythmias can cause your heart to beat too fast, too slow, or irregularly.
Arrhythmia Symptoms
Sometimes, you may not experience any symptoms from an arrhythmia, but there are some noticeable arrhythmia symptoms that may occur. These include:
- Chest pain
- Tachycardia (racing heartbeat)
- Bradycardia (slow heartbeat)
- Shortness of breath
- Fluttering in your chest
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Lightheadedness
Arrhythmia Causes
Heart arrhythmias can be caused by various different things. Some common causes include:
- High blood pressure
- Stress
- Air pollution
- Drug abuse
- Diabetes
- Heart attack
- Hyperthyroidism
- Electrical shock
- Smoking
- Drinking too much alcohol or caffeine
- Hypothyroidism
- Certain dietary supplements or herbal treatments
- Scarring of the heart tissue after a heart attack
- Coronary artery disease
- Certain prescription medications
Arrythmia Diagnosis
If your doctor detects a heart arrhythmia during an exam, he or she may recommend some heart-monitoring tests that will help to determine a more accurate diagnosis. These tests include:
- ECG (electrocardiogram): This test involves attaching sensors called electrodes to your chest and limbs to detect the electrical activity of your heart by measuring the duration and timing of each electrical phase of your heartbeat.
- Event monitor: This is a portable ECG device that is used to monitor sporadic arrhythmia symptoms. You keep the device available at all times, then you start to feel the symptoms, you attach the device to your bottom and press a button to activate.
- Echocardiogram: This is an exam that uses a transducer placed on your chest to emit sound waves and produce an image of the size, structure, and motion of your heart.
- Holter monitor: This is also a portable ECG device that is usually worn for a short period of time (a day or longer) to record your heart’s activity as you go about your daily routine.
- Tilt table test: This may be a test your doctor recommends if you have been experiencing fainting spells. It works by monitoring your blood pressure and heart rate as you lie flat on a table, and then when the table is tilted to simulate you standing up to observe how your heart reacts to the change in angle.
- Electrophysiological testing and mapping: This is a test that allows your doctor to see the exact location of your arrhythmia and what might be causing it. Using catheters tipped with electrodes threaded throughout your blood vessels, they are guided to various places within your heart to map the spread of electrical impulses as well as stimulate your heart beat to certain rates.
- Stress test: To determine if your arrhythmia is worsened or triggered by exercise, a stress test will require you to exercise on a treadmill or stationary bicycle while your heart activity is monitored and recorded.
Arrythmia Treatments
Sometimes treatment is not necessary for heart arrhythmias if they are not causing any symptoms or putting you at risk for complications. If treatment is required, it will depend on the type of arrhythmia you have. For example, bradycardias (slow heartbeat) may require a pacemaker to monitor your heartbeat and send out electrical impulses if your heart slows or stops. Treatment for tachycardias (fast heartbeats) might include medications, vagal maneuvers, or procedures such as cardioversion or catheter ablation.
For severe cases, surgical treatment may be necessary. This could include a maze procedure to create scar tissue on your heart or coronary bypass surgery to improve the flow of blood to your heart.
