Cardiac Arrhythmias

African American male that is seen today for followup post hospital discharge. He is a 48-year-old gentleman with complicated cardiac history as well as neurological history including congestive heart failure. History of strokes 01/2017, possible sick sinus syndrome. He has an implanted pacemaker that was placed in 06/2017, as well as hypertension. He was taken to the Central Hospital on 09/01 with presentation of chest pain, noted to be around his pacemaker site. He identified being in seizure and suddenly felt chest pain with shortness of breath, and was offered nitro, he developed headaches and dyspnea post nitro treatment, of note is that the EKG that was obtained during that process, did not identify any pacemaker spike despite having a

The EKG is read by a doctor or specialist, such as an internist, family medicine doctor, electrophysiologist, cardiologist, anesthesiologist, or surgeon. The doctor will look at the pattern of spikes and dips on your EKG to check the electrical activity in different parts of your heart. The spikes and dips are grouped into different sections that show how your heart is working

In the normal conduction of the heart the electrical impulse starts in the SA node, also called the pacemaker of the heart. The electrical impulse travels through the right atrium and through the Bachmann’s bundle into the left atrium. This stimulates the atria to contract. Next the signal travel to the AV node. The AV node slightly delays the signal. This delay is needed for the heart to beat properly. Without this delay the atria and ventricles would beat at the same time. The electrical signal then travels to the Bundle of His where it is split into the signals going to the right and left ventricle. The signal

Other hemodynamic effects have also been reported with usage of ivabradine. In a study by Kurtoglu et al, ivabradine was seen to improve heart rate variability in non-ischemic patients with heart failure. (26). De Luca et al showed that addition of ivabradine to optimal medical therapy in patients with stable heart failure with preserved ejection fraction with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) > 50% and heart rate > 70 bpm, significantly improved physical performance by increasing exercise capacity (27). Another study in patients with stable ischemic heart failure, NYHA functional class II and LVEF ≤ 40%, confirmed these findings and additionally showed an improved gas exchange (with improvement

Henry Rollins once said; “Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.” Although, loneliness is a part of life, nobody wants to feel alone or be in isolation. My mother passed away when I was 9. At that point in time she was the only person I looked up to, as a result the situation left me feeling alone. While other girls were learning how to wear makeup and how to cook from their mothers, I began teaching myself how to do these simple things. This experience has made me realize how important it is to appreciate what you have before it is too late. I am also more independent as a result.

Today millions of Americans live or have lived with Atrial fibrillation. The main concern with this health issue is that many people who lived with it sometimes are not aware of it. Atrial fibrillation is defined by Mayo Clinic (2012) as “an irregular and often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow to the body”. It occurs when the four chambers of the heart have a disrupted rhythm. The abnormal functionality of health may lead to a stroke because of the possible blood clot that will be formed. The Atrial fibrillation or Afib put the body in a situation without oxygen and nutrients because the body is not well supplied by a heart that is became weak. In general, only few people will feel change in their heartbeat. They may verbalize

Bradycardia is a sign of issues in the heart’s electrical system. In addition, bradycardia is when the sinus node (natural pacemaker) stops functioning properly or the electrical pathways of the heart are disrupted (such as the arteries and veins). A life-threatening form of bradycardia is quite severe and serious; the heart is not able to pump enough blood to meet the body’s essential needs.

Great post. I like the points you outlined about assessment of Mr. J. You started with maintaining ABC’s to checking lower extremities pulses to ensure that it is not cut off by the tight constrictive band of the eschar. ECG should be monitored at least the first 24 hours because Mr. J is prone to cardiac arrest due to high electrical voltage injury. Fluid resuscitation with 14 or 16 gauge preferably through unburned tissue, and infusion of lactated Ringer’s solution will help to prevent shock. Assessment of vital signs and pain is very important, the nurse should also assess for history of tetanus immunization because burn wounds are prone to tetanus. Mr.’s brief medical history is important in case he has any allergies, current medical

Heart rate, also known as pulse, is the number of times a person's heart beats per minute. A normal heart rate depends on the individual, age, body size, heart conditions, whether the person is sitting or moving, medication use and even air temperature. Even emotions can have an impact on heart rate. For example, getting excited or scared can increase the heart rate. But most importantly, getting fitter lowers the heart rate, by making heart muscles work more efficiently.

On average a healthy adult during state of rest has a heart rate of 80 beats per minute, that’s 4,800 times per hour, 115,200 times per day, and over the course of a year about 42,048,000 times. Each beat has the important job of pumping blood and keeping you alive. Every so often the extraordinary complexity of the human body has its flaws, for some heart rates are not always steady but rather rapid with erratic electrical pulses. An example of a dangerous flaw that could occur within the human body is Ventricular Fibrillation. Ventricular Fibrillation is the name given to the condition when the pumping chambers in your heart quiver uselessly instead of pumping blood which causes cardiac arrest.

According to Brunner et al., the most common dysrhythmia in patients with cardiac arrest is ventricular fibrillation, which is rapid, disorganized ventricular rhythm that causes ineffective quivering of the ventricles. No atrial activity is seen on the ECG. The following characteristics that constitute ventricular fibrillation are, ventricular rate is greater than 300 beats per minute. Ventricular rhythm is extremely irregular and without a specific pattern. QRS shape and duration are irregular, undulating waves without recognizable QRS complexes.

The first initial step in the diagnosis of heart palpitation is through one's description of the palpitations that is the approximate age of the person when first noticed palpitation and the circumstances under which it occurs are crucial, also information about tea, coffee and caffeine intake .It is also important to know how it started and stopped and approximately how slow or fast the pulse rate was during an attack. Also testing of thyroid gland function though blood test are also important baseline investigations

Inherited gene defects, some people are just born with heart abnormalities so their chance for getting an arrhythmia is much higher. Heart problems, people who have had heart problems, narrowing valves, heart attacks, malfunctioning valves, cardiomyopathy and heart surgeries are more at risk for it. Hyper and Hypothyroidism, which i have, a disorder where the thyroid gland seems to not function correctly are more at risk. Medications, hypertension, obesity, uncontrolled diabetes, and things as simple as alcohol, caffeine and abuse of drugs make some one more likely to develop an arrhythmia over

Out of 200 perforated peritonitis patients, 57% were male .The mean age was 40±7 years. Tachycardia was the commonest physical findings (65% in early intervention vs. 68% in late intervention), followed by hypotension (32% vs. 34%) and abdominal distension (32% vs. 28%) . However, abdominal pain was commonest symptoms (94% vs. 92% ) followed by altered bowel habit (65% vs. 60%) and nausea vomiting (40 % vs. 46) . Comorbid conditions were found in 16% of patients. The most common comorbidity was respiratory problems (12% vs. 16%), followed by diabetes (11% vs. 12%), renal disease (8% vs. 11%) and hypertension (8% vs. 6%) (P=0.234). Positive history of NSAID intake for more than 6months found in (12 % vs. 14) (Table 1).

The heart is one of the most important organs in an organism’s body, no matter if they are aquatic, amphibian, or a mammal. This super organ works automatically, able to pump massive amounts of oxygen rich blood through the body by means of electrical impulses and the opening and closing of valves within its many layers. It is what keeps us and every other creature on this earth alive; so it is only natural for one to fear when there might be a problem with one’s heart. A cardiac arrhythmia can happen to anyone, no matter the age, race, or gender, and as such, doctors and scientist have spent years trying to better understand the heart and the way it functions so that they can try to prevent these problems and save millions of lives.