Cardiac Arrhythmia: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Cardiac arrhythmia (or irregular heartbeat) is a disease of the cardiovascular system, which is characterized by any irregular heart rhythm. The phenomenon is associated with a change in the regularity, frequency and sequence of heartbeats, palpitations can be either too frequent (development of tachycardia), or too slow (development of bradycardia). Some cases of arrhythmia can lead to cardiac arrest. Arrhythmia occurs at any age, in the upper and lower chambers of the heart, atria and ventricles, respectively. Some types of disease are barely noticeable, while others are more dramatic and result in a fatal outcome. Cardiac arrhythmia is considered one of the most common causes of death.

The mechanism of normal heart rhythm

To understand what is the arrhythmia, the reasons for its appearance, it is necessary to understand how the myocardium contraction occurs at all. The mechanism of the normal rhythm of the heart is provided by a conducting cardiac system, which is a cluster of special highly specialized cells. These cells create electrical impulses and conduct them on special fibers that bring the heart muscle to work. Despite the ability of each node of the system to generate impulses to the heart muscle, the main link here is the sinus node, which sets the necessary rhythm. It is located at the top of the right atrium. The pulses generated by the sinus node, like the sun's rays, spread from it in all directions. Some impulses "respond" to a contraction or excitation of the atria, while others help slow the contraction, so that the atria can send another portion of blood to the ventricles. This ensures the normal rhythm of our heart. Its violation can be caused by two problems:

- violation of the process of formation of impulses;

- violation of carrying out the generated pulses in the cardiac system.

With such problems, the next node in the chain assumes "responsibility" for observing the work of the heart rhythm, but the frequency of contractions decreases. This is how the arrhythmia develops, the reasons for which will be considered a little later.

Types of arrhythmia

Doctors classify arrhythmias depending not only on the place where they occur (atria or ventricles), but also on the speed of the heartbeats. A fast heartbeat with a heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute is called tachycardia, and a slow pulse with a heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute is a bradycardia. The causes of cardiac arrhythmia directly depend on the type of disease.

Not always tachycardia or a bradycardia mean a heart disease. For example, during physical exertion fast heartbeat is considered the norm, as an increase in heart rate allows to provide tissues of the body with oxygen. During sleep or deep relaxation, the heart rate is usually slower.

If the tachycardia occurs in the atria, then the disorder is classified as follows:

- Atrial fibrillation is a rapid heartbeat caused by the chaos of electrical impulses in the atria. These signals lead to a fast, uncoordinated or weak contraction of the heart muscle. The causes of atrial fibrillation are the convulsive chaotic activity of the ventricles, which usually occurs against the background of other cardiovascular diseases. This phenomenon, like atrial fibrillation, can cause serious complications, such as stroke.

- Fluttering - similar to atrial fibrillation, electrical impulses are more organized and rhythmic than in fibrillation. Flutter also leads to a stroke.

Supraventricular tachycardia or supraventricular tachycardia, which includes many forms of arrhythmia occurring above the ventricles.

Tachycardia, which occur in the ventricles, are divided into the following subspecies:

- Ventricular tachycardia - is a rapid regular heartbeat with abnormal electrical signals in the ventricles. This prevents the full filling of the ventricles and prevents efficient pumping of blood.

- Ventricular fibrillation is an arrhythmia, the causes of which are ineffective blood pumping due to ventricular shaking. This is a rather serious problem that often ends in a fatal outcome if the heart can not restore the normal rhythm within a few minutes. Most people who have ventricular fibrillation either have serious heart disease or have experienced serious injuries, such as lightning.

Not always a low number of heartbeats means that a person develops a bradycardia. If you are in good physical shape, then the heart can pump a sufficient volume of blood and for 60 beats per minute at rest. To reduce the heart rate can and some medications. However, if you have a slow heart rate and your heart does not pump enough blood, you may have one of several types of bradycardia.

- Sinus arrhythmia, the causes of which are due to the weakness of the sinus node.

- Blockage of excitation of electrical impulses between the atria and ventricles. In this case, the patient may experience missed strokes of the heart muscle.

- Premature heart contraction - occurs in the ventricles between two normal strokes.

Causes of cardiac arrhythmia

A healthy person hardly ever suffers from such problems. When there is a cardiac arrhythmia, its causes are caused by various factors that are negative for the body. It can be changes in the heart muscle, ischemic disease, electrolyte imbalance in the blood, trauma after a heart attack, healing processes after heart surgery and others. The pulse rate is also associated with anxiety, physical activity, medication.

It is important to understand that when an arrhythmia occurs, the causes and treatment of the disease for each age group of patients will be different. In children, for example, the disease occurs due to some factors, in adults - others. For a disease such as cardiac arrhythmia, the reasons for the general nature can be identified in the list:

- Disturbances that damage the heart and valves (endocarditis, myocarditis, rheumatism).

- Thyroid disorders.

- Hereditary factors.

- Dehydration or lack of potassium in the body or other electrolytes.

- Damage to the heart due to a heart attack.

- The healing process after heart surgery.

The risk of getting sick increases with smoking, stress, excessive intake of caffeine or alcohol, age, high blood pressure, kidney disease and other things.

Cardiac arrhythmia in children

In children, the disease is classified according to the place of impairment of impulse transmission, i.e. In the ventricles or atria. If there is arrhythmia in children, the reasons for it should be looked very carefully to increase the child's chances of recovery. Atrial arrhythmias include the following:

- premature atrial contractions;

Supraventricular tachycardia;

Atrial fibrillation;

- Atrial flutter;

- gastric tachycardia;

- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (a condition in which an electrical impulse can come to the ventricle too quickly).

Ventricular disorders of cardiac contractions in childhood include:

Premature contraction of the ventricles (early or superfluous heartbeats);

- ventricular tachycardia (a life-threatening condition in which electrical signals enter their ventricles at a variable rate);

- Fibrillation of the ventricles (irregular, disorganized heartbeats).

For children's bradycardia, the following disorders are typical:

- dysfunction of the sinus node (cardiac arrhythmia in children, the causes of which are due to a slow rhythm of heartbeats);

- cardiac blockade (delay or complete block of electrical impulse from the sinus node to the ventricles).

Symptoms of arrhythmia depend on the degree of maturity of the child. Older children can tell themselves about dizziness or a fluttering sensation in the heart. Irritability, pallor of the skin, lack of appetite are noted in infants or toddlers. Some common symptoms of arrhythmia include:

Weakness, fatigue;

- violation of heart rate and pulse;

- dizziness, fainting or pre-stupor ;

Pallor of the skin;

- pain in the chest;

- shortness of breath, sweating;

- lack of appetite;

Irritability.

If the cardiac arrhythmia develops in childhood, the causes of the disease are determined by the following factors: infectious diseases, taking certain medications, fever, fever. For more serious reasons, congenital malformations are attributed. In most cases, arrhythmias in children are harmless. Nevertheless, when there is a change in the rhythm of the heart at rest, outside the games or physical exertion, parents should seek professional medical help in a medical institution.

Cardiac arrhythmia in adolescents

If there is an arrhythmia in adolescents, its causes can vary depending on the sinus rhythm. In adolescence, the body is subject to multiple changes, which often causes various violations. Such a phenomenon rarely becomes a pathology, changes appear more at the physiological level and eventually disappear. However, this does not mean that arrhythmias in adolescents should not be given importance. At the initial stage of the illness, a teenager needs a regular examination of a doctor who will monitor the dynamics of arrhythmia. If the symptoms do not disappear within 1-2 years, then the teenager, of course, needs treatment.

The most common type of arrhythmia in adolescence is a bradycardia. The disease is fraught with the fact that the brain of the child does not receive the necessary amount of oxygen, which leads to a deterioration of intellectual abilities, performance, slowing down the reaction, the inability to fully engage in sports and other problems.

The causes of arrhythmia at this age are not always associated with diseases of the cardiovascular system. Endocrine disorders, stress, nervous overexertion, changes in the hormonal background in adolescents, pulmonary or bronchial diseases, colds accompanied by fever and so on can provoke the disease. In vegeto-vascular dystonia, the disease is most often phantom, so when treating such children, it is important to prescribe sedatives and counseling psychologists.

Cardiac arrhythmia in women

Women, as a group, present an interesting set of problems for a cardiologist who specializes in heart rhythm disturbances. There are monthly changes in certain arrhythmias, in which palpitation is a source of discomfort and anxiety for female patients, and there are certain risks when a woman is diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia. The causes, treatment, and symptoms of the disease depend on many different factors to consider.

Women have a higher prevalence of weakness syndrome sinus node, sinus tachycardia, atrioventricular nodular tachycardia and other types of disease. The causes of arrhythmia in women are associated with a violation of the heart rhythm:

- ventricular tachycardia (originating from the lower chambers of the heart);

- supraventricular tachycardia (occurs in the upper chambers of the heart);

- premature atrial contractions (occur in the upper and lower chambers of the heart).

It is important to remember that impaired heartbeat is a symptom of the disease, not a diagnosis. Sometimes, when there is an arrhythmia, the causes of its occurrence can be associated with such factors as stress, nervous overexcitation, emotional frustration. Nevertheless, in these cases, a thorough diagnosis of the disease is necessary in order to rule out the possibility of more serious causes.

Arrhythmia in pregnancy usually occurs because of a change in the hormonal background of a woman. An increase in the level of estrogen and human chorionic gonadotropin affects the expression of cardiac ion channels, hemodynamic changes are characterized by an increase in the volume of circulating blood and double the cardiac output. In addition, pregnancy increases sympathetic tone. All these changes in the female body contribute to the development of arrhythmia.

Cardiac arrhythmia in men

In men, heart disease is 2 times more common than in women. The most common forms of the disease are atrioventricular block, carotid sinus syndrome, atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, recurrent ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation and sudden death, and Brugada syndrome. The causes of arrhythmia in men are often associated with overweight, alcohol abuse, smoking, lack of physical activity, malnutrition, stress, and some medications.

Men with heart disease are especially prone to arrhythmia, since abnormalities in the functioning of the heart muscle can cause heart failure or delay the electrical signal from the sinus node to the ventricles. If there is an arrhythmia after eating, the causes of this condition are associated with the pressure of the stomach on the diaphragm. This causes compression of the sternum, pressure on the heart. The causes of arrhythmia in men are also associated with high blood pressure and hyperactive thyroid gland, which also increase the risk.

Symptoms of the disease in adults

With a disease such as cardiac arrhythmia, symptoms, the causes of the disease are closely interrelated. So, for example, when the heart beats faster than usual, the symptoms of the illness include chest discomfort, palpitations, dizziness, headache, hypertension. With bradycardia, usually there is fatigue, dizziness, fainting or pre-stupor, and lowering blood pressure.

Symptoms of arrhythmia in adults include general weakness, an increased sense of fatigue, a violation of heart rate and pulse. With slow strokes of the heart, the brain does not receive the right amount of oxygen, so patients notice frequent dizziness, fainting or premarrow, they have shortness of breath and sweating. Skin pale, become sweating. When tachycardia is frequent pain in the chest, irritability increases,

If the flutter in the chest area is random, then they do not carry any danger. But if the pain in the heart becomes more and more, and a person constantly has a feeling of weakness, the pulse becomes irregular, it's time to see a doctor.

Arrhythmia Treatment

Most forms of heart disease are considered harmless and do not need treatment. If a person has an arrhythmia of the heart, the causes, treatment of the disease usually depend on each other, because the doctors choose the method of therapy, based on those factors that provoked the disease. Treatment of the disease is usually aimed at preventing blood clots in the bloodstream in order to prevent the risk of stroke, restore normal heart rate, control heart rate in the normal range, reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

If the bradycardia does not have obvious causes, doctors usually resort to the use of pacemakers. A pacemaker is a small device that is installed near the clavicle. One or more electrodes with the tips emanating from the device send electrical impulses along the blood vessels to the heart and, thus, stimulate regular cardiac contraction in humans.

For many types of tachycardia, a patient may be prescribed treatment that allows controlling the heart rate or restoring normal heart rhythm. Such therapy allows to minimize all possible complications. At atrial fibrillation, the doctor prescribes medications that dilute the blood, which prevent the formation of blood clots in the bloodstream. With atrial fibrillation, the patient is prescribed medications with the use of cardioversion, which allows to restore the normal sinus rhythm.

In some cases, the patient may be recommended surgical treatment of arrhythmia. In case of a serious lesion of the coronary artery, the patient is offered a coronary bypass surgery. This procedure improves the flow of blood to the heart. Radiofrequency ablation is performed in the case of an increased number of heartbeats with insufficient pulse. During the operation, the doctor makes punctures in the scar tissue, which can no longer conduct electrical impulses.

Prevention

In order to prevent heart disease, and in particular arrhythmia, you should lead a healthy lifestyle, adhere to recommendations for proper nutrition, abandon bad habits, avoid stressful situations, play sports.