Tachycardia is an accelerated heartbeat. Tachycardia can be caused by excessive physical exertion, stress or fear, severe nervousness, or even drinking too much coffee. Sometimes tachycardia is accompanied by fever, hypotension. However, tachycardia can also be a life-threatening arrhythmia. What are the other causes of tachycardia? What is the treatment?

What is tachycardia?

Tachycardiadenotes an acceleratedheartbeatthat strikes at a rate ofover 100 beats per minute. The feelingpalpitationsmay be accompanied by troublesome symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain, excessive sweating, and even loss of consciousness.

Fever, physical exertion, alcohol, strong emotions accelerate the heartbeat, but as long as it does not significantly exceed 100 beats per minute, and the work rhythm is regular, there is no reason to worry. Accelerated heart rate in such situations is a natural thing.

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Tachycardia: symptoms

However, when the heart is galloping like crazy, sometimes losing the rhythm additionally, it can be pathological. Then tachycardia is more often called tachyarrhythmia. When its source is in the atria, it is referred to as supraventricular, and in ventricles - ventricular. It can be paroxysmal or permanent. Sometimes the symptoms of a tachyarrhythmia are mild, other times they are troublesome.

Patients generally complain of fast or fast and irregular heartbeat. If an arrhythmia causes a loss of hemodynamic stability, i.e. the heart's ability to pump enough blood for the body to function properly, the following may also occur:

  • dizziness
  • spots in front of eyes
  • shortness of breath
  • short breath
  • feeling weak

It happens that there is pain in the chest behind the breastbone, fainting, loss of consciousness occurs. Very fast rhythms, even short ones, are accompanied by fear, anxiety, irritation and nervousness.

Additional ventricular contractionsfeels like a "skip", a feeling of death of the heart, because after the additional contraction there is a fraction of a second pause in the ventricles (so-called compensatory), and then stronger contraction. Single and rare extra contractionsthey also occur in he althy people and do not pose a threat to them. Common and clustered are cause for concern. Extra spasms are not always treated, or the therapy is based on the administration of beta-blockers. However, when they pose a significant he alth risk, ablation is considered.

Tachycardia: causes

The most common causes of tachycardia are:

  • running or other strenuous physical activity
  • stimulation of the body by high levels of adrenaline (stress, nervousness, etc.)
  • fever
  • stimulants: alcohol, caffeine, nicotine
  • drugs e.g. amphetamines
  • drugs containing atropine, ephedrine or pseudoephedrine
  • hyperthyroidism

Not always tachycardia is a symptom of some disease. It may also increase your heart rate when you are nervous or exercise. If tachycardiaoccurs due to physiological reasonse.g. when nervous, anxious or due to exercise - then we are dealing withsinus tachycardia .

Sinus tachycardia can also be caused by:

  • fever
  • dehydration of the body
  • hypotension
  • strong emotions

and also diseases:

  • heart ischemia
  • pulmonary embolism
  • heart failure
  • hyperthyroidism
  • any inflammation
  • disorders in the functioning of the nervous system
  • allergies

Sinus tachycardia can also happen after drinking too much coffee (caffeine) or alcohol as an adverse effect of some medications.

  • heart disease, including
    • ischemic heart disease
    • heart failure
    • myocarditis
  • respiratory failure
  • blood loss and haemorrhagic anemia
  • under-sugar
  • dehydration
  • sepsis (sepsis, systemic inflammatory reaction due to infection)
  • shock, including anaphylactic, i.e. immediate allergic reaction

Dangerous ventricular tachyarrhythmias

If arrhythmias occur at the atrial level ( atrial tachyarrhythmias ), there is a chance that the AV node will correct them, e.g. reduce the number of beats per minute from 200-300 to 100 -150. Then the heart beats too fast, but it fulfills its primary function - it pumps blood, albeit less effectively.

Worse, too fast rhythm comes from the chambers, because there is no control mechanism in them that could slow it down. Thereforeventricular tachyarrhythmiasare more dangerous than atrial tachyarrhythmias.

Their cause isthe most common:

  • heart attack scars
  • heart disease
  • congenital heart defects

They have symptoms similar tosupraventricular tachyarrhythmiasbut carry a greater risk of complications, including sudden cardiac death.

The most dangerous form of tachyarrhythmia isventricular fibrillation- very fast (over 300 heartbeats per minute) and chaotic rhythm of their work. As a result, the chambers will not have time to fill with blood, so they do not pump it into the bloodstream.

This results in ischemia of the brain and the heart itself, and circulation stops if the patient does not receive immediate help (defibrillation).

Equally dangerous isventricular flutter , which is a fast heart rate of more than 250 beats per minute. Ventricular flutter can lead to fibrillation.

Tachycardia: effects

Althoughsupraventricular tachyarrhythmiasare not generally a direct threat to life, they should not be taken lightly. They can lead to:

  • stroke (especially atrial fibrillation)
  • rapid drop in blood pressure
  • collapse
  • and in the long term - to unfavorable phenomena in the heart muscle.

They also happen to initiate ventricular flutter or fibrillation if arrhythmia is conducted uncontrolled to them. Supraventricular tachyarrhythmias have many causes.

In young people with a he althy heart, they can be associated with:

  • endocrine system instability
  • emotional hyperactivity

in older people - with degenerative changes in the heart, such as, for example :

  • cardiovascular diseases, e.g. :
    • coronary artery disease
    • hypertension
    • post-infarction scars
    • valve defects
    • additional electric pulses conduction
  • hormonal disorders
  • lung diseases

The most common type of supraventricular tachyarrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, which is fast (over 350 beats per minute) and chaotic atria.

A similar situation isatrial flutter , with a slightly slower and partially regular rhythm. Atrioventricular node (AVNRT) recurrent tachycardia may also occur due to an additional (usually congenital) conduction pathway.

It causes a loop of electrical impulses to circulate, resulting in a fast, steady rhythm (150-250 beats per minute). It is usually not associated with structural heart disease. This type of tachyarrhythmia is paroxysmal.

Tachycardia: drugs not always effective

We have a lot of drugs,which enable effective therapy of coronary heart disease or hypertension. However, when it comes to tachyarrhythmias, things are not so good.

Pharmacology copes worse with them. The most commonly used are classic cardiological preparations, which have a beneficial effect on the heart muscle and slow the heart rate at the same time (e.g. beta-blockers or beta blockers). Such therapy is not sufficient in every situation. Then you take antiarrhythmic drugs.

The problem is that they are not always effective or have significant side effects (e.g. by eliminating one arrhythmia, generating another) that limit their use.

You must do it

In the event of a tachycardia attack:

  • rest
  • take a deep breath and tighten all muscles on the exhale
  • gently massage the carotid artery (the pressure area is on the neck, under the mandible)
  • wet your face with cold water

Tachycardia: surgical treatment

If pharmacotherapy is not able to help, surgical methods of treatment are used:ablationorimplantation of a cardioveter-defibrillator .

Ablationis a cardiological procedure that destroys the site of tachycardia in the heart. After the diagnostic electrodes and the ablation electrode are inserted into the heart through the femoral artery or vein, the arrhythmia focus "burns out".

Ablation is usually performed without general anesthesia. It is a relatively minimally invasive procedure and is most often performed in the case of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation.

The implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillatoris performed in situations where the patient has already experienced dangerous ventricular tachyarrhythmias or if there is a likelihood of their occurrence (e.g. in heart failure).

The main task of this device, called ICD for short (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator), is to interrupt ventricular tachycardia, flutter or fibrillation by electrical pulses. The cardioverter-defibrillator continuously analyzes the heart rhythm.

It intervenes when it is too fast or too slow (so it also acts as a stimulator). If it registers an accelerated heartbeat, then it sends out weak electrical impulses, the so-called antiarrhythmic stimulation to prevent tachyarrhythmias.

When unsuccessful,sends a single strong electrical pulsein sync with the heart's rhythm. It is unpleasant for the patient. It may feel like a thump and even chest pain, but it usually stops severe arrhythmias, including ventricular fibrillation, and restores the normal rhythm. ICDit looks like a pacemaker, although it is bigger than it.

The device is implanted under the skin in the subclavian region, and the electrodes are inserted through veins into the right ventricle of the heart and sometimes into the right atrium.

The procedure is usually performed under local anesthesia. People with ICD should take similar precautions in their daily life as those with an implanted pacemaker.

Important

Control the level of magnesium - it is a component of enzymes that inhibit the inflow of calcium to the cells of the heart muscle, which helps to maintain the correct rhythm of contractions and diasters. Good sources of magnesium are:

  • soybeans
  • nuts
  • legume beans
  • bran and cereal grains
  • vegetables with dark green leaves
  • crustaceans
  • chocolate and cocoa

The recommended daily allowance of magnesium for women is 280 mg and 350 mg for men.

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Category:

Cardiology