Cardiac arrhythmia is a group of medical conditions, in which the heartbeat becomes either too fast or too slow. The normal heartbeat rate is between 60 to 90. If the heartbeat falls below 60, it is called bradycardia and if it raises above 100, it is called tachycardia.

According to Cardiologists practicing in the best heart hospitals in Kolkata, Arrhythmia occurs when the coordination between heartbeat gets unsynchronized.

Symptoms of Cardiac Arrhythmia

Several types of arrhythmia does not show any symptoms. Rest of the cases show the following symptoms-

a) Shortness of breath
b) Palpitations
c) Chest pain
d) Skipping beats
e) Sweating
f) Passing out
g) Lightheadedness or dizziness

Most of the arrhythmia cases are not serious, while some of these may leads to severe complications such as stroke, cardiac arrest and heart failure.

Causes of Arrhythmia

Several factors are responsible for causing or triggering arrhythmia. These are:

a) Smoking
b) Diabetes
c) Alcohol and drug usage
d) Prior heart attack
e) Mental stress
f) Congenital heart defects

Diagnosis of Arrhythmia

There are numerous diagnosis by which the best heart hospitals in Kolkata tract the exact cause of triggering arrhythmia. This includes details of patient’s medical history, family history and lifestyle. The following are the diagnosis done in order to evaluate the condition of the patient’s heart.

1. Electrocardiogram (ECG)– It records the rhythm and electric activity of the patient’s heart.

2. Blood and urine test– It checks the blood count and conditions of the liver, kidney and thyroid.

3. Echocardiogram– It is an ultrasound scan that tracks the pumping action of heart.

4. Chest x-rays– It depicts the state of heart and lungs of the patient.

5. Holter – It is a wearable device that records the activities of heart for a considerably long time say up to 48 hours. It also enables the doctor to see the condition of the heart at any point of time.

6. Tilt-table test– It is the test performed in case neither ECG or Holter test can reveal any useful information about the heart condition; even though the patient experiences dizziness.

7. Heart catheterization– This is a relatively-safe procedure to understand how well the heart is working. A hollow tube of very thin cross-section, called the catheter, is inserted in a large blood vessel to reveal the heart’s working condition.

8. Electrophysiologic testing (EP Test)– It is a relatively painless, invasive test that aims to find the exact cause and type of arrhythmia and how it might respond to its treatment.