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“where we strive to provide you with information and resources on heart rhythm disorders in simple terms. In this day and age, patients want to be more engaged with decisions related to their healthcare. Our goal is to help you understand your condition and empower you to make informed decisions about your health.”
We understand that living with an abnormal heart rhythm can be emotionally challenging for patients and their families. When patients are diagnosed with an arrhythmia, they are often frightened and anxious about the risks to their life. Fearful patients find it difficult to make rational medical decisions. The vast majority of medical decisions benefit from detailed, balanced, slow-thinking. In fact, one of the ways a heart rhythm doctor (electrophysiologist) can help people is to remove their fear by educating them about their condition.
The normal human heart beats about 100,000 times per day and about 35 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times. The heart does so with incredible accuracy and coordination most of the time ensuring optimal heart function.
The normal resting heart rate is not fixed and varies significantly during the day. The rate is constantly modified depending on changing body requirements. For example, the heart rate falls during sleep (sometimes as low as 30 beats per minute in young people) and increases with exercise, anxiety and emotion. The resting heart rate for most people runs normally in the range between 60-80 beats per minute but rates can easily vary between 50 and 100 beats per minute in normal individuals.
There are different conditions that can cause tachycardia or fast heart rate. Each of these conditions is caused by different mechanisms, has different features and treatments. In this section we will discuss the common conditions that cause tachycardia in clinical practice.
Bradycardia is a medical condition characterized by an abnormally slow heart rate, typically less than 60 beats per minute. In some cases, bradycardia may be normal, such as during sleep or in highly trained athletes who have developed a lower resting heart rate. However, in many cases, it can indicate an underlying medical problem, such as damage to the heart’s electrical system, hypothyroidism, or medication side effects. Symptoms of bradycardia can include fatigue, dizziness, fainting, and shortness of breath.
Vasovagal syncope, also known as neurocardiogenic syncope, is a type of fainting episodes that occurs when there is a sudden drop in heart rate and/or blood pressure, leading to a temporary loss of consciousness. It is caused by a reflex response in the body’s autonomic nervous system, which controls functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing.
During a vasovagal syncope episode, the body overreacts to a trigger such as emotional stress, pain, standing up for a prolonged period, or a sudden change in body position. This leads to a sudden decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, causing reduced blood flow to the brain, which results in a loss of consciousness.
Event Monitor
The treatment of arrhythmia with medications involves the use of antiarrhythmic drugs, which work to regulate the electrical activity of the heart and restore a normal heart rhythm. The choice of medication and the treatment plan will depend on the type and severity of the arrhythmia, as well as the patient’s overall health and medical history
Catheter ablation is a relatively new medical procedure that was first developed in the 1980s. The procedure was originally used to treat supraventricular tachycardias (SVT) caused by an abnormal extra electrical pathway in the heart. Radiofrequency energy was delivered through a catheter to the area of the heart responsible for the SVT
Implantable cardiac rhythm devices, also known as cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), are medical devices that are implanted into the body to monitor & regulate the heart’s electrical activity
There are other procedures that electrophysiologists can offer to patients such as pacemaker lead extraction and left atrial appendage closure
