What is Pediatric Arrhythmia?

Irregular heartbeats, or arrhythmia or dysrhythmia, may occur when the heart beats too quickly or too slowly. Arrhythmia can occur anywhere in the heart.

A normal heart in a healthy person has a regular and rhythmic beat. Still, many heart conditions or worries related to the blood it circulates may disturb its normal rhythm. Since each body part gets oxygen and nutrients through the pumps from your heart, it's pretty important to maintain its normal rhythm.

What are the kinds of arrhythmia?

Doctors describe arrhythmias based on where they originate in your heart.

Supraventricular arrhythmias: These begin in your atria, your heart's upper chambers.

"Supraventricular" refers to above your ventricles or the lower chambers of your heart.

Ventricular arrhythmias: These begin in your heart's ventricles or lower chambers.

Bradyarrhythmias and junctional measures: These may stem from issues in the conduction system of your heart, such as the sinoatrial (SA) node, atrioventricular (AV) node, or His-Purkinje system.

What symptoms of an arrhythmia are there?

Heart arrhythmias might lead to any of the following complications:

Palpitation: It feels like your heart is racing, skipping, or fluttering
Dizziness and sleeping off
Loss of consciousness
Low blood pressure
Chest pain
Shortness of breath
Malaise

In some instances, arrhythmias do not cause symptoms. During a clinical checkup, a doctor may check your pulse, listen to your heart sounds, or even run other diagnostic tests to find irregular heartbeats.

What causes arrhythmias?

Causes of arrhythmia include:

Coronary artery disease
Abnormal tissue in your heart (due to genetic or acquired reasons).
Hypertension
Changes in your heart muscle (cardiomyopathy).
Valve diseases.
Electrolyte disturbances in your blood.
Injury due to a heart attack.
The healing process after heart surgery.

How is an arrhythmia diagnosed?

A doctor can identify an irregular heartbeat during an examination by taking your pulse and listening to the heartbeat.

After taking a history of your symptoms and doing a physical exam, they might order individual tests to help determine with reasonable certainty that you have an arrhythmia. It can also suggest a cause. You may also like to seek consultation with an electrophysiologist—a cardiologist who has recent technical training in the judgment and treatment of heart rate diseases.

What tests will be performed to diagnose arrhythmia?

Some tests that may diagnose an irregular heart rate and underlying conditions include:
Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG).
Blood tests are performed to check your electrolyte situation or look for an inherited issue.
Stress test.
Cardiac catheterization.
CT Scan
Heart MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging).

How do I reduce the chance of arrhythmia?

Here are some ways to reduce arrhythmia risk:

Quit tobacco use.
Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.

Reduce or eliminate your caffeine use- teas, coffees, colas, and many over-the-counter medications are caffeinated. Some of these medications may exacerbate symptoms in people who are sensitive to caffeine.

Avoid stimulant prescription and over-the-counter medications with care, especially cough and cold preparations. Be aware that herbal or nutritional supplements often contain stimulants.

Some components of some of these drugs initiate abnormal heart rhythms. After reading the package insert, talk to your doctor about which one will be best for you.

Treat your high blood pressure.
Try to attain an appropriate weight for you.
Treat your high sugar.
Address sleep apnea.
Avoid activities that you perceive as triggering an arrhythmia.

How long will it take to get better?

It may take several months to find the appropriate medication and treatment that will be effective for your type of arrhythmia. Given the nature of the procedure or surgery, recovery can be thought of in weeks or months. For several weeks, you might still have arrhythmias as you recover. If you undergo a procedure like catheter ablation or pulmonary tone insulation.

What happens if I have an arrhythmia?

Depending on your type of cardiac arrhythmia, you might be classified as having either slight, moderate, or no symptoms whatsoever. Some people will need medication or a technique, but others require no treatment at all. Many patients with cardiac arrhythmias can lead comfortable lives if treated. Some patients with significant arrhythmias suffer a cardiac arrest; they do or do not survive it.

Living with

How do I take care of myself?

Knowing how to take your pulse is useful in case you have a cardiac arrhythmia. Your palpitation is your heart rate or the number of times your heart beats in 1 second. Palpitation rates differ from one person to another. Whenever you exercise, your heart rate increases, and you’re resting heart rate decreases. When resting, an average heart rate is between 60 to 100 beats per minute. However, you can track it through your fitness tracker or smart watch. To dispel all worries, you also have to make sure that the people you love know how to recognize an irregular heartbeat and CPR if necessary.

Why Tender Palm Super-Speciality Hospital for Pediatric Arrhythmias?

Tender Palm Hospital has the most experienced team of Pediatric Cardiologists, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeons, and diagnostics with the latest and International standard infection control measures in Lucknow, India. The Pediatric Cardiac Science Centre team has decades of experience in successfully treating Pediatric Arrhythmias.