What is a cardiac arrhythmia?

  To understand the arrhythmia first, we must be generally familiar with the heart anatomy. The heart is located in the thoracic cavity and normally 1/3 of the heart is located on the right side of the thorax and 2/3 on the left side of the thorax. The normal heartbeat is located on the left side of the thorax, specifically at the junction of the fourth rib space and the left midclavicular line. The heart is divided into atria and ventricles, where the atria include the left and right atria and the ventricles include the left and right ventricles. The normal heartbeat originates in the upper right part of the right atrium, the sinus node, where the excitation reaches the atrioventricular node (the junction between the atrium and the inner ventricle) along the intra-atrial conduction pathway, and then the excitation reaches the right and left ventricles along the bundle of Hitchcock and the left and right bundle branches. The heart begins the work of the cardiac cycle.  What are arrhythmias?  In layman’s terms, an arrhythmia is a heartbeat that is too fast, too slow, or too chaotic. A normal heartbeat (ventricular beat) is 60-100 beats per minute and usually has a regular rhythm, but teenagers may have an irregular heartbeat. A rapid heartbeat is a heartbeat of >100 beats per minute. Some arrhythmias have 150-250 beats per minute, such as paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia; some arrhythmias have 100-250 beats per minute, such as ventricular tachycardia; some arrhythmias have 250-350 beats per minute, such as atrial flutter; and some arrhythmias have 350-600 beats per minute, such as atrial fibrillation. Implantation should be considered in cases of tachycardia, i.e., a heartbeat of 3 seconds per minute, and in patients with atrial fibrillation with a pause of >5 seconds and second-degree type II or higher AV block.  Treatment of patients with tachyarrhythmias: The treatment of patients with premature beats varies from person to person. For occasional atrial premature beats and ventricular premature beats, no treatment is generally required; for premature beats >10,000 beats per 24 hours, radiofrequency ablation or antiarrhythmic drugs can be considered; for premature beats with only a few thousand beats per 24 hours, no treatment can be given if there are no symptoms, but long-term follow-up is required, and antiarrhythmic drugs can be considered for those with symptoms. It is worth mentioning that premature ventricular contractions should be actively treated regardless of the number of contractions, as long as one of the following conditions occurs Patients with organic heart disease, cardiac insufficiency, family history of sudden death, history of syncope, and RonT phenomenon on ECG.  Patients with atrial fibrillation, in addition to anticoagulation, should try to restore sinus heartbeat (normal heartbeat) in patients with initial atrial fibrillation; patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, if antiarrhythmic drug therapy is ineffective, should be treated with radiofrequency ablation to restore sinus heartbeat; patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, should try to restore sinus heartbeat; patients with persistent atrial fibrillation should be actively anticoagulated and have their ventricular rate controlled. Patients with atrial flutter should undergo radiofrequency ablation after 3 weeks of anticoagulation to restore sinus heartbeat.  Patients with pathological sinus node syndrome, this arrhythmia often has fast heartbeat, slow heartbeat & chaotic heartbeat appearing in the same patient. Treatment is usually pacing + antiarrhythmic drug therapy or pacing + radiofrequency ablation.