Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

Entries for the ‘Arrhythmias’ Category

Surgical Treatments for Arrhythmias

In  addition  to  drugs  and  nonsurgical  procedures,  several types  of surgery can restore  your heart’s rhythm.  Implantation of a pacemaker can treat bradycardia (slow heartbeat);  an internal  cardioverter- de?brillator can correct more serious arrhythmias; or a procedure called maze surgery can be performed  on some people with atrial ?brillation. Pacemakers A pacemaker  is a battery-powered […]

Nonsurgical Treatments for Arrhythmias

Great  advances have been made in nonsurgical  treatments for certain types of arrhythmias. These techniques,  including ablation and electrical cardioversion,  may restore  normal heart rhythms,  reduce or elimi- nate symptoms,  and reduce  or eliminate  the need for medications  or surgical procedures (such as implantation of a pacemaker or an internal cardioverter-de?brillator). Catheter Ablation Catheter ablation […]

Antiarrhythmic medications

Antiarrhythmic medications  slow down rapid heartbeats  and regulate irregular or premature heartbeats. Generally, these drugs work by block- ing chemical reactions that promote  electrical conduction.  They act to either suppress abnormal electrical impulses or slow down transmission of impulses as they are conducted through  heart tissue. As a result, your heart beats more rhythmically and […]

Diagnosing Arrhythmias

Once your doctor diagnoses an arrhythmia through your symptoms or an examination, he or she will need to determine where it originates and whether it requires treatment; that is, whether it is causing symptoms or putting  you at risk for more serious problems in the future. The electrocardiogram  is a very important tool that  your […]

Types of Arrhythmia

Irregularities in your heart rhythms can be described by the effect they have on the speed of your heartbeat (acceleration or deceleration) and where they occur in your heart (in the atria or in the ventricles). Another type of arrhythmia, called heart block, is a partial or complete interruption in the transmission of the electrical […]

Arrhythmias

Every second or so, an electrical impulse originating in the right atrium of your heart travels through the heart and triggers a single heartbeat, or contraction of the heart. A group of specialized cells in the muscle tissue, called the sinoatrial (SA) node, initiates the signal, acting as your heart’s natural pacemaker. The impulse travels […]