Category Archives: Cardiac Rhythm Abnormalities

Heart The human heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals, which pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system.[1] Blood provides the body with oxygen and nutrients, as well as assists in the removal of metabolic wastes. In humans, the heart is located between the lungs, in the middle compartment of the chest.[3] In humans, other mammals, and birds, the heart is divided into four chambers: upper left and right atria; and lower left and right ventricles.[4][5] Commonly the right atrium and ventricle are referred together as the right heart and their left counterparts as the left heart Continue reading →

Troponin, or the troponin complex, is a complex of three regulatory proteins (troponin C, troponin I, and troponin T) that is integral to muscle contraction[2] in skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle, but not smooth muscle. Discussions of troponin often pertain to its functional characteristics[3] and usefulness as a diagnostic marker[4] or therapeutic target[5] for various heart disorders, in particular as a highly specific marker for myocardial infarction or heart muscle cell death.[3] Troponin is attached to the protein tropomyosin and lies within the groove between actin filaments in muscle tissue. In a relaxed muscle, tropomyosin blocks the attachment site for the myosin crossbridge, thus preventing contraction. Continue reading →

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a sensorineural peripheral polyneuropathy. Continue reading →

Individuals experience the symptoms of arrhythmia differently. Some who have this condition may not feel any symptoms, and their arrhythmia will go unnoticed until it is detected by a physician during a routine examination. Others may experience only minor symptoms, while some are sensitive to the slightest sensation. Symptoms commonly reported include: The hearts electrical system generates impulses that are felt as heartbeats. Every cell in the heart muscle is capable of initiating an electrical impulse; therefore, it is normal to have occasional premature beats that can occur under normal conditions. If you have rapid or irregular heartbeats, this can cause a sensation called palpitation. Patients describe palpitations as fullness in the throat or neck or as feeling a more forceful beat. They are usually felt at times when the mind and body are relaxed, so patients often experience palpitations in the evening when reading, watching television, or getting into bed. Feeling palpitations sometimes causes anxiety that can produce increased adrenaline levels, which, in turn, can increase the frequency of the premature beats and make the palpitations worse. Although palpitations can be a benign condition, they should always be evaluated by a cardiologist/electrophysiologist to rule out any underlying problems. Some … Continue reading →

Abstract Background: The frequency of cardiac rhythm abnormalities and their risk factors in community-dwelling adults are not well characterized. Methods: We determined the frequency of rhythm abnormalities in the UK Biobank, a national prospective cohort. We tested associations between risk factors and incident rhythm abnormalities using multivariable proportional hazards regression. Results: Of 502 627 adults (median age, 58 years [interquartile range, 13]; 54.4% women), 2.35% had a baseline rhythm abnormality. The prevalence increased with age with 4.84% of individuals aged 65 to 73 years affected. During 3 368 332 person-years of follow-up, 15 906 new rhythm abnormalities were detected (4.72 per 1000 person-years; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.654.80). Atrial fibrillation (3.11 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 3.053.17), bradyarrhythmias (0.89 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 0.860.92), and conduction system diseases (1.06 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 1.021.09) were more common than supraventricular (0.51 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 0.480.53) and ventricular arrhythmias (0.57 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 0.550.60). Older age (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.35 per 10-year increase; 95% CI: 2.292.41; P … Continue reading →