Cardiac arrhythmia (medical term: arrhythmia) is an irregular beating of the heart. Cardiac arrhythmia can vary greatly in form and duration. Most cardiac arrhythmias are harmless and occur in many people, often without them noticing the heartbeat that has gone out of beat.
However, it is possible that cardiac arrhythmias last for a long time and cause problems. Accordingly, the consequences of cardiac dysrhythmia depend on the form of the disease. Some forms are life-threatening and require immediate therapy. For example, in the absence of intervention, immediate death can occur in some cases, while other forms can trigger a stroke due to the irregular contraction of the heart. In order to rule out dangerous cardiac arrhythmias, a doctor should be consulted if a problem with the patient’s own heartbeat is suspected.
Causes and forms
Depending on the cause and form of the cardiac dysrhythmia, these have different effects on the body. In many cases, they are harmless and harmless, whereas some forms are acutely life-threatening. All cardiac arrhythmias have in common that for some reason the electrical activity that causes the heart muscle to contract is disturbed.
In general, a distinction is made between cardiac dysrhythmias of the atrium and the ventricle. In addition, the distinction between arrhythmias that are faster than the normal heartbeat (tachycardia) and slow arrhythmias (bradycardia) is important and determines the consequences to be expected. The most frequent cardiac arrhythmias in healthy people are the so-called extrasystoles.
These are sometimes described as “heart stumbling”. Extrasystoles occur more frequently, especially in adolescents who have grown tall. Substances such as alcohol and nicotine as well as physical overstrain of the body can promote the occurrence of extrasystoles.
In many cases, extrasystoles occur without being noticed. In most cases, the extrasystoles are harmless cardiac arrhythmias. Sometimes, however, an extrasystole can trigger another cardiac dysrhythmia, ventricular fibrillation, which is life-threatening, especially if the heart has been damaged previously.
Ventricular fibrillation (heartbeat above 300/min) as well as the so-called ventricular flutter (heartbeat between 200 and 300/min) is a dangerous cardiac dysrhythmia which is life-threatening. These cardiac arrhythmias require immediate therapy and can quickly lead to death if left untreated. The reason for this is that the heart is unable to maintain blood circulation sufficiently during rapid contractions and vital organs can no longer be supplied with oxygen.
So-called atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter is also very common. These cardiac arrhythmias are often detected by chance. Since blood clots can form due to the irregular beating of the atrium, which can then possibly be distributed in the body and lead to severe consequences, such a cardiac dysrhythmia must usually be treated with blood-thinning medication.
Thus, if atrial fibrillation is not treated, a blood clot may enter the brain and cause a stroke. Another relatively common cardiac arrhythmia is the so-called AV block. Here, the transmission of excitation between the atria and the ventricles is disturbed.
There are several subtypes of this disease which all require different therapies. Light AV blocks can usually go untreated, while severe forms are in urgent need of treatment. This form of dysrhythmia is also often not noticed and is often a coincidental finding.
Due to the usually slower heartbeat, a lower performance capacity may be noticed. There are a number of other, rather rare cardiac arrhythmias. Mostly, cardiac arrhythmias are recognized by chance or are noticed by racing heartbeat or stumbling or a reduced performance capacity. In addition, there are clinical pictures which can cause cardiac dysrhythmia and are already present at birth.
