What do you know about cardiac arrhythmia?

Cardiac arrhythmia is a medical problem in which there is a defect in the electrical impulses of the heart which is responsible for controlling of the heartbeats within normal ranges (60 – 100 beats per minute), resulting in one of the following:

• Tachycardia: it means resting heart beat is more than 100 beats per minute.
• Bradycardia: it means resting heart rate is less than 60 beats per minute.

There are many risk factors and causes for cardiac arrhythmia, the most common ones include the following:

1. Chronic hypertension.
2. Pervious exposure to heart attack.
3. Cardiomyopathy.
4. Coronary artery insufficiency.
5. Diabetes mellitus.
6. Thyroid dysfunction (hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism).
7. Heavy smoking.
8. Excessive exposure to stress.

Cardiac arrhythmia could be asymptomatic and harmless. On the other side, it could be manifested with the following:

• Cardiac palpitation.
• Chest pain.
• Tight chest.
• Fatigue.
• Dizziness.
• Sweating.
• Disturbed level of consciousness.

Initial diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmia depends on assessment of the presenting symptoms. Also, the doctor orders further investigations, such as; ECG, echocardiogram and Holter test.

Most cases of cardiac arrhythmia are mainly managed by medications which control heart rate within normal ratios. If drug therapy failed, implantation of pacemaker seems to be a good option to restore normal heart rhythm.