Electrical therapy
If the administration of medication is not sufficient to stop the heart stumbling, in some cases electrical cardioversion is required as therapy. It is mostly used for atrial fibrillation. A current is sent through the heart from the outside with electrodes, which puts all the heart cells in the same excited state. The principle is similar to defibrillation, but in this form of therapy the current is weaker and ECG-controlled and is given at a safe time of the heart action.
Invasive therapy
In addition, there are severe cardiac arrhythmias with heart stumbles, which have structural causes. Normally, the excitation of the heart muscle cells is controlled by certain electrical pathways. In rare cases, there may be additional electrical pathways in the heart that disrupt the rhythm.
As a therapy, further invasive measures are often necessary. By means of a catheter, which is advanced by specialists via a vessel up to the heart, such defects can be detected. Afterwards, the conduction path is sclerosed and rendered harmless with electric current.
This procedure is the treatment of choice for relevant cardiac stumbling, e.g. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or so-called reentry tachycardia between atrium and ventricle. This therapy is also sometimes used in the context of atrial fibrillation if an additional excitation center is assumed. Another last therapeutic approach for heart stumbling is the permanent supply of a pacemaker.
They are used when there is a risk of the heart developing ventricular fibrillation, or when the heart beats too slowly or too quickly.A pacemaker then virtually takes over the function of the natural rhythm center. In addition to this, modern devices have functions such as recording rhythm, defibrillation in an emergency and even adaptation to physical activity. There are a large number of different types, all of which have their own special indication and show great benefit in the therapy of heart stumbles. Heart stumbling can have many causes and be of varying degrees of severity, so that the choice of therapy must always be carefully evaluated.
