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Arrhythmia

Also called: Irregular heartbeat

Has your heart ever skipped a beat? Sometimes it really does if you have an arrhythmia. An arrhythmia is any disorder of your heart rate or rhythm. It means that your heart beats too quickly, too slowly or with an irregular pattern. When the heart beats faster than normal, it is called tachycardia. When the heart beats too slowly, it is called bradycardia.

Many factors can affect your heart's rhythm, such as having had a heart attack, blood chemistry imbalances or abnormal hormone levels. Some substances or medicines may also cause arrhythmias.

Symptoms of arrhythmias include

Fast or slow heart beat
Skipping beats
Lightheadedness, dizziness
Chest pain
Shortness of breath
Paleness
Sweating

Your doctor can run tests to find out if you have an arrhythmia. Treatment to restore a normal heart rhythm may include medicines, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or a pacemaker.

Get Arrhythmia updates by email

Start Here
- Arrhythmia(American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Also available in Spanish
- Arrhythmia(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Also available in Spanish

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Dictionaries/Glossaries
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Children
Teenagers
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Patient Handouts

Overviews
- About Arrhythmia(American Heart Association)
- Heart Arrhythmias(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
Latest News
- Wearable Defibrillator Can Prevent Death in People with Arrhythmias(11/13/2011, American Heart Association)
Diagnosis/Symptoms
- Common Tests for Arrhythmia(American Heart Association)
- Electrocardiogram(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Electrophysiology Studies(Texas Heart Institute)
- Holter and Event Monitors(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Rapid Heartbeat(Heart Rhythm Society)
- Slow Heartbeat(Heart Rhythm Society)
- Symptoms, Diagnosis and Monitoring of Arrhythmia(American Heart Association)
- Syncope(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
- Tilt Table Test(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- What Are Electrophysiologic Tests?(American Heart Association) - PDF
Treatment
- Antiarrhythmics(Texas Heart Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- Automated External Defibrillator(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Calcium Channel Blockers(Consumers Union of U.S.)
- Also available in Spanish
- Cardioversion(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia(American Heart Association)
- Catheter Ablation(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- How Are Arrhythmias Treated?(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- How Are Palpitations Treated?(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- How Is Heart Block Treated?(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- How Is Long QT Syndrome Treated?(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Prevention and Treatment of Arrhythmia(American Heart Association)
- Symptoms and Emergency Treatment of Cardiac Arrest(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Prevention/Screening
- Understand Your Risk for Arrhythmia(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Disease Management
- MedlinePlus: Pacemakers and Implantable Defibrillators(National Library of Medicine)
- Return to top
Specific Conditions
- Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia(American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Also available in Spanish
- Atrial Flutter(American Heart Association)
- Bradycardia(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Brugada Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Bundle Branch Block(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Heart Block(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Heart Palpitations(American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Also available in Spanish
- Long QT Syndrome(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Other Rhythm Disorders(American Heart Association)
- Palpitations(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Postural Tachycardia Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
- Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs)(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Sick Sinus Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Skipped Heartbeats(Heart Rhythm Society)
- Sudden Cardiac Arrest(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Tachycardia(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Ventricular Fibrillation(American Heart Association)
- Ventricular Fibrillation(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and Accessory Pathways(American Heart Association)
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Related Issues
- AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Programs: Questions and Answers(American Heart Association)
- Sudden Death in Young People--Heart Problems Often Blamed(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Why Arrhythmia Matters(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Health Check Tools
- Palpitations(DSHI Systems)
- Rapid Pulse(DSHI Systems)
- Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Risk Assessment(Heart Rhythm Society)
- Return to top
Tutorials
- Arrhythmias(Patient Education Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
Videos
- Arrhythmias - Encyclopedia
- Also available in Spanish
- Cardiac conduction system - Encyclopedia
- Also available in Spanish
- Electrophysiological Study and Catheter Ablation with 3D Mapping(OR-Live) - Mercy Hospital, Miami, FL, 11/15/2007
- Also available in Spanish
- Heartbeat - Encyclopedia
- Also available in Spanish
- If I Had - An Irregular Heartbeat and Was Diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome(Insidermedicine)
- If I Had - Supraventricular Tachycardia(Insidermedicine)
- Paracardioscopic Ex-Maze(OR-Live) - FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, Pinehurst, NC, 07/09/2008
- Return to top
Anatomy/Physiology
- Heart Anatomy(Texas Heart Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- How the Heart Works(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Return to top
Financial Issues
- SADS and Insurance(Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation)
- Return to top
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Arrhythmias, Cardiac(National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Bradycardia(National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Tachycardia(National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Atrial Fibrillation(National Institutes of Health)
- Return to top
Genetics
- Genetics Home Reference: Andersen-Tawil syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Brugada syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Romano-Ward syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Short QT syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Timothy syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
- Genetics Home Reference: Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome(National Library of Medicine)
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Research
- New Genetic Framework Could Help Explain Drug Side Effects(National Institute of General Medical Sciences)
- Return to top
Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Perioperative management of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices.
- Article: Left ventricular dysfunction assessed by speckle-tracking strain analysis in patients...
- Article: Predicting long-term mortality in older patients after non-ST-segment elevation myocardial...
- Arrhythmia -- see more articles
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
- Cardiac Glossary(American Heart Association)
- Cardiovascular Glossary(Texas Heart Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
Organizations
- American Heart Association
- Heart Rhythm Society
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation
- Return to top
Children
- Arrhythmias(Nemours Foundation)
- Children and Arrhythmia(American Heart Association)
- Facts about Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young(Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation) - PDF
- Tilt Table Evaluation(Children's Hospital Boston)
- Types of Arrhythmia in Children(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Teenagers
- Arrhythmias(Nemours Foundation)
- Return to top
Women
- Cardiac Arrhythmia Management: Why Women Are Different from Men(Women's Heart Foundation)
- Heart Rhythm Problems(Cardiovascular Research Foundation)
- Return to top
Patient Handouts
- Arrhythmias
- Also available in Spanish
- Atrial fibrillation/flutter
- Also available in Spanish
- Cardiac ablation procedures
- Also available in Spanish
- Cardioversion
- Also available in Spanish
- Ectopic heartbeat
- Also available in Spanish
- Electrocardiogram
- Also available in Spanish
- Exercise stress test
- Also available in Spanish
- Heart palpitations
- Also available in Spanish
- His bundle electrography
- Also available in Spanish
- Holter monitor (24h)
- Also available in Spanish
- Intracardiac electrophysiology study (EPS)
- Also available in Spanish
- Multifocal atrial tachycardia
- Also available in Spanish
- Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT)
- Also available in Spanish
- Sick sinus syndrome
- Also available in Spanish
- Ventricular fibrillation
- Also available in Spanish
- Ventricular tachycardia
- Also available in Spanish
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
You may also be interested in these related encyclopedia pages:
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Illustration of the heart

MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

Related Topics

National Institutes of Health

The primary NIH organization for research on Arrhythmia is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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Arrhythmia - Multiple Languages

Date last updated: 25 January 2012
Topic last reviewed: 08 November 2011

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Page last updated on 25 January 2012 Topic last reviewed 08 November 2011