Talk:Cardiac arrhythmia

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Contents

[edit] Causes

What causes arrhythmia? Are there too many things to put down? I'm sure most people come to this page, like me, because they are experiencing arrhythmia and are wondering what to do. Shouldn't there be sections here directed at the concerned layman explaining what symptoms warrant a visit to the doctor, what causes it, what triggers it, and so on. Kimholder 03:51, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] ICD9

Is the ICD9 code correct? 427.9 is, I think, too specific. Even the icd9.chrisendres.com site linked to calls all of 427.x 'Cardiac dysrhythmias'. --user:Somej

[edit] Arrythmia/Dysrythmia

All arrhythmias and many dysrhythmias are life-threatening events and medical emergencies, while others are harmless.

Is it me, or does this sentence fail to make sense? I would rewrite it intelligibly but I do not know what it is saying. --user:amazoneveryday

[edit] SADS

Removed:

SADS, or sudden arrythmia death syndrome, is a rare condition blamed for some otherwise unexplained deaths. It is related to long QT syndrome, QT being the time taken by the heart to recover after each beat. Patients with long QT can be given beta-blocker drugs to slow the heartbeat, and are advised to refrain from competitive sports.

-> Plan to add a new page on long QT syndrome.

[edit] Over-complication

I cut the following cryptic bullet-point outline from the Diagnosis section. Some of them are now addressed (with explanation) in "Origin of impulse", but, as with most Powerpoint-style presentations detached from their lecture, I couldn't reconstruct the train of thought behind the rest of the bullets. I hope someone can add some of this content back in a way that will make sense to readers who aren't cardiologists. ←Hob 20:29, 2004 Sep 2 (UTC)

  • Mode of initiation
    • Automaticity
      • Enhanced or abnormal
      • Spontaneous onset of tachycardia
      • No premature beats leading to the arrhythmia
      • Gradual increase in the rate of the arrhythmia over the first 5-10 beats ("warm up")
      • EKG appearance of the first tachycardia's beat is identical to the rest
    • Reentry
      • Initiation is with a premature beat followed by a slight pause
      • This is followed by the arrhythmia (corresponding to premature beat, unidirectional block, slow conduction)
      • "Warm up" is unusual
      • EKG appearance of the first tachycardia beat need not be identical to the rest
    • Mode of termination in response to overdrive pacing (pacing the heart at a rate faster than the tachycardia rate). Sometimes the application of electrical pacing from outside the heart itself is useful diagnostically. This is most commonly done by placing an electrode into the cardiac chambers and delivering electrical current across the endocardium
      • Automaticity
        • Often shows "overdrive suppression"
        • The arrhythmia seems to be terminated by pacing only to return after several seconds with a gradual resumption of the pre-pacing rate
        • This is related to increased activity of the Na+ - K+ pump with Na+ loading. This causes the cell to have a more negative resting membrane potential and takes longer to reach threshold.
      • Reentry
        • Often terminates in response to overdrive pacing
          • Without subsequent arrhythmia resumption

          Tachycardia stops because paced impulses have entered circuit in both limbs causing bi-directional block

(Also, I really can't figure out what this paragraph was trying to say:)

The precise role of triggered activity as a mechanism on human arrhythmias has not been studied in adequate detail to characterize modes of initiation or response to pacing. Other means exist to differentiate more clearly among arrhythmias at the time of invasive electrophysiologic study.


[edit] Arrythmia

Cardiac dysrhythmia is technically more correct, as arrhythmia would imply that there is "no rhythm,"

In Greek "Rhythmia" means evidently "Rythm", (the Greek one being the original). So "Arrhythmia" indeed (not implied at all) means "no rhythm" as it is stated in the article.

But why this is not correct???. "No rhythm" doesn't mean "No pulse" or “No bit”. "Arrhythmia" means simply "pulse without rhythm".

Yet, I can still support the article’s suggestion, saying (as a Greek) that the word "Dysrtythmia" (Bad-rhythm) is also correct and identical in meaning (literature-wise - not aware if also medically). I guess that “Bad-rhythm” and “No-rhythm” is logically the same thing. I also guess that we could say “Mal-rhythm”..

--62.38.24.151 Dimitri GIANNAKOPOULOS / dimitri999@lycos.com / 00:20, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Good points, but "arrhythmia" is more commonly used. Andrew73 02:35, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Defibrillation

I found this in the main article, so I transferred it to discussion:

" "In defibrillation, the recipient has lost consciousness so there is no need for sedation."

As someone who has recently had 17 defibrillations from an implanted unit, I can state, unequivocally, that it hurts like hell and the shock comes before there is any loss of consciousness. " Snodawg 22:32, 3 February 2006 (UTC) (P.S. I did not type this originally, merely transferred it)


I have sinus arrythmia and tried searching for it on here to see what we have and nothing on this page talks about it though it is one of the most common forms of arrhythmia for athletes and adolesence. I think it should be added. Anomalycp 18:01, 26 April 2006 (UTC) I stand corrected from the opening paragraph, perhaps we need to change it to a subheading in the "common arrhythmias" section. --User:Strolch1983 German wikipedia / 15:02, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] German wiki

Hallo, if you are ever interested in writting an article for the reentry mechanism in english, you can link it, if you want, with the German wikipedia article "Kreisende Erregung". best greetings. --Strolch1983

[edit] Computer model of reentry and fibrillation

I produced a PC based model that dynamically illustrated the mechanisms of reentry and fibrillation and other cardiac behaviour. I did this for my masters thesis in Biomed Engineering.

It allowed the student to set up the preconditions for the arrythmia and then watch it develop. I called it XCITE.

This was fifteen years ago. I don't know if it was ever picked up by educators. It was good.

[edit] Too fast/too slow/skip a few: my heart.

I have been searching the web for information, yet finding anything in "laymans" terms is almost impossible! The Dr. told me that my "middle" chamber of my heart is not beating correctly with the top and bottom. His recomendation is an imediate pace maker! I can feel it skipping 1-3 beats some times and it feels like some one is inside my chest punching outward. then it will race and at other times will slow down, i get extremely tired, and at times get suddenly dizzy and will lose my eyesight aprox. 3-6 seconds. then the dizzyness is gone and my eyesight comes back. during and EEG and EKG and echo, the techs. told me they had never seen some one with so many skipped beats.

MY QUESTION; what are some possible reasons for this to happen? and why is there no photo of the heart showing each chamber and the flow of function.

[edit] Further work to be done on this article...

Just reverted a change from last week that chopped about the first third of the article off... I'd be the first to admit there is a lot of work waiting to be done here, but axing the Definition, Manifestations and Mechanisms section probably didn't help its cause.

This article could use lotsof, some, any REFERENCES. The mechanism section needs copyediting... a lot of other arrhtymia articles (such as the VT and SVT) link to this bit. The treatment section needs expanding and linking. The chapter headings could be brought into line with the Manual of Style for Medical Articles And the whole thing needs to be looked at carefully by a non-doctor to de-jargon it.

I don't think it needs many more external links - Google gets you more university and medical school sites than you can poke a stick at! I'll keep chipping away at it from time to time... Happy editing.TamePhysician (talk) 05:32, 29 March 2008 (UTC)