“My mother is suffering from rapid heartbeat. What is the treatment?”

Hello! Thanks for your question. For us to properly assess your mom, we would need to check her vitals as well as obtain an ECG (heart rhythm tracing) to diagnose her. If she is having rapid irregular heartbeats, this could be a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (clinically defined as an irregularly irregular heartbeat) and should be addressed as soon as possible. Symptoms include palpitations, fatigue, and shortness of breath. There are other causes of irregular heart beats as well, but atrial fibrillation is the most common cause in the US and the world. Often, we would get a Holter or event monitor to confirm diagnosis if the ECG is not diagnostic at time of acquisition. These are continuous heart rhythm monitors worn for a specific amount of time (usually 24 hours, or up to 30 days). Once a diagnosis is made, appropriate medications and risk modification is done, including risk stratification for stroke prevention, with use of an oral anticoagulant, if indeed this is atrial fibrillation or other stroke related arrhythmias. A medication to slow down rapid heart rates is usually prescribed. Other treatment options are available and should be pursued including the use of anti-arrhythmic drugs as well as definitive treatment with ablation therapy. Consultation with a cardiac electrophysiologist (heart rhythm specialist) is recommended. Hope this helps. All the best to mom! Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

Your mom may be having episodes of an arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation. This particular rhythm can put mom at risk for stroke, heart attack, and enlargement of the heart. Mom should be thoroughly evaluated by a cardiologist, preferably a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, like me.

tachycardia is a very generic term and a need to be more specific. There are multiple causes for tachycardia. That can range from abnormalities in the rhythm of the upper chamber the heart which can be further classified to atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter which are quivering of the left atrium of the heart or a more regular fast rhythms which are summarized as supraventricular tachycardias. There also tachycardias that originate from the lower chamber the heart which could also be a regular some of them are single premature contractions which we call in short PVCs or even ventricular tachycardia. All these tachycardias can have very effective therapies once diagnosed my suggestion is to see and electrophysiologist who then will order an event monitor for up to 30 days to be able to capture the arrhythmia and then establish a management plan for mom. Most common arrhythmia that happen and elderly is atrial fibrillation with an incidence of about 20 to 25% in that case blood thinners are prescribed and the option of medical management furthers catheter-based management which called ablation procedure can be offered

We need a diagnosis first. A 12-lead ECG to start or an event monitor/holter may reveal possible atrial fibrillation (likely diagnosis). If so, the treatment may involve blood thinners, rate control medications and possibly rhythm control medications.

See a cardiac electrophysiology specialist as soon as possible

The best thing to do is to get a referral to a cardiologist, and if possible, one who specializes in heart rhythm problems. These are known as Cardiac Electrophysiologists. This type of doctor can diagnose, and then recommend the proper treatment for the condition. A good resource is HRSonline.org. This is the professional association of
Electrophysiologists, and you can search for one in your area.

CJL