Cardiac Arrhythmia: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

What is Cardiac Arrhythmia?

Cardiac Arrhythmia is a medical condition that is the result of increased or greatly reduced heart beats and electrical activity in the heart muscle and cavity. The abnormal heart rhythms or palpitations can cause a lot of anxiety and discomfort. The condition is predisposed towards embolus or a paralytic stroke. While some cardiac arrhythmia are minor, some are cause for alarm.

Cardiac Arrhythmia Symptoms:

Cardiac arrhythmia does not refer to any one heart problem. The term is commonly used to relate to a large number of conditions that take a toll on heart health. Among the various signs and symptoms of cardiac arrhythmia, the most common one is the sudden, abnormal development of increased or reduced heartbeat. The resultant palpitations could be frequent, infrequent or consistent. Though most of the time an arrhythmia is harmless, it could herald adverse outcomes, if ignored and neglected. There are many types of cardiac arrhythmias that don't even manifest in the form of symptoms. Though they are not credited with increased mortality when they do not manifest, they do expose the patient to a higher risk of blood clotting and inevitably, a weakened heartbeat. Other fatalities include stroke, heart attack and cardiac death. Cardiac arrhythmia symptoms include low blood pressure and weakness.

Cardiac Arrhythmia Treatment:

Cardiac arrhythmia is commonly detected through stethoscope auscultation for peripheral pulses or electrocardiogram or ECG. The treatment options for cardiac arrhythmia is chosen after careful diagnosis of the condition. While some arrhythmias require no treatment at all, quite a few demand medical emergency treatment to escape a complete heart failure. The treatments include:

Physical Exercises: There are a number of physical exercises that increase parasympathetic nervous supply. The resultant blockage of electrical conduction slows down an arrhythmia. The vagal maneuvers manage the heart's parasympathetic nervous supply and support heart health.

Antiarrhythmic Drugs: There are a number of antiarrhythmic medications now available, each with its own unique mechanism of action. However, it is very important for the antiarrhythmic drug to be carefully selected and administered under medical supervision. The drugs are administered to slow down electrical abnormality and induce 'rate control', to make the condition physically tolerable. Anticoagulant medication like heparin and warfarin help to reduce blood clotting.

Electricity: This method involves shock therapy via implanted electrodes. The shock is 'applied' across the heart, either externally or internally. Cardioversion to the underlying heartbeat helps in the treatment of arrhythmias. In the elective cardioversion, the patient is sedated, while in the case of defibrillation via an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, the recipient is unconscious most of the time and hence, there is no need for sedation. Cardiac pacing is used to induce reversible heartbeats or bradycardia, while a pacemaker addresses bradycardia, when clinically declared irrecoverable.

Electrical Cautery: This treatment option for cardiac arrhythmia is conducted with the help of fine probes. The probes are inserted to map electrical activity, through the surrounding blood vessels. Once the abnormal conduction areas are identified, they are treated via heat, cold, laser or electrical probes.

Common cardiac arrhythmias are classified according to the recorded rate, which could be either normal, tachycardia or bradycardia. Another classification criterion is the mechanism, which could be either automaticity, fibrillation or reentry. If neglected, cardiac arrhythmia can culminate into a condition known as SADS or the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome. This syndrome refers to the sudden death brought on by cardiac arrest triggered by neglected arrhythmia. The most common outcome of cardiac arrhythmia on record remains coronary artery disease. Today, research reveals that there are a number of inherited heart conditions and diseases that cause sudden death, irrespective of age.