Ventricular tachycardia: causes, symptoms, treatment

Ventricular tachycardia – rapid contractions of the ventricles (up to 200 beats/min). The phenomenon is paroxysmal (starts and ends abruptly), while maintaining a regular rhythm. The disease is considered the most severe arrhythmia. If you ignore the symptoms of disease and not in time to begin her treatment, this can lead to serious consequences. Regularly feel unwarranted heart palpitations? There is a reason to go to the doctor!

Acute ventricular tachycardia often occurs in myocardial infarction, in which there is death of heart tissue.

Pathology occurs in different ways. Often this complicates the staging of a physician diagnosis. Disease, given the characteristics of the flow is:

How dangerous is ventricular tachycardia?

Ventricular tachycardia – a severe kind of disease is the main organ in our body. If the frequent contractions of the ventricles are sustainable, the heart eventually ceases to cope with stress – reduced blood pressure and developing heart failure. On the background of chronic arrhythmia breaks down the process of blood circulation in the body – the vital organs now fail in their «duties».

If you do not start comprehensive treatment ventricular tachycardia the onset of the attack threatens to escalate into a myocardial infarction, which is experiencing not every patient. To get to his feet after a heart attack is much harder than to undergo preventive treatment.

Tachycardia may be replaced by ventricular fibrillation, leading to death of the patient.

What causes ventricular tachycardia?

Ventricular tachycardia develops in healthy people. Many patients (even young people under 40 years of age) today are on the account at experts. But most often, this pathology occurs in the background of serious abnormalities in the heart. Select one of the following:

• ischemia of the heart (insufficient blood flow to the heart);
• congestive heart failure;
• surgery on the heart;
• myocarditis (inflammation of heart tissues due to infections);
• myocardial infarction;
• genetic diseases (long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome);
• overdose of drugs – antiarrhythmic, beta-blockers, glycosides;
• congenital abnormalities of the heart;
• the reduction of the body’s electrolytes – magnesium, potassium.

Whatever the causes of the disease, ventricular tachycardia requires comprehensive treatment!

What are the symptoms of ventricular tachycardia?

Unstable cardiac arrhythmia, often progresses with no symptoms. To «see» the pathology is possible only with constant medical supervision and regular passage of ECG. The reasons because of which the patient goes to a cardiologist, become more frequent palpitations, mild chest pain, fainting and nausea.

Sustained tachycardia is characterized by more obvious symptoms:

• the feeling of a «lump» in the throat;
• frequent arrhythmia;
• bouts of weakness and nausea;
• panic attacks;
• pallor of the skin.

None of the marked symptoms cannot be ignored – it is a straight road on the operating table.

Diagnosis of tachycardia of the ventricles

If the patient goes to the doctor with alarming symptoms, the specialist assigns a number of diagnostic measures. It is necessary for an accurate diagnosis forms and stages of the disease. Ventricular tachycardia is diagnosed as:

But veloergometry (special bike) or treadmill (a special treadmill) for suspected ventricular tachycardia is denied because physical exercise can be dangerous for the patient.

For accurate diagnosis, the doctor may not prescribe the whole complex of diagnostic measures, often missing 2-3 tests to identify the cause of the disease.

Treatment of tachycardia of the ventricles

When ventricular tachycardia is detected, the doctor prescribes a comprehensive treatment. Tactics depend on the degree of development of the disease, the General health of the patient and existing contraindications.

Any form of disease (stable or unstable) requires immediate treatment – even if the patient has implicit symptoms!

Treatment of disease aims to:

• therapy of the underlying pathology;
• elimination of mechanisms of maintaining the arrhythmia;
• prevention of subsequent attacks.

At the time of exacerbation uchennyh rhythms the doctor prescribes the patient medication and treatment hardware:

To do to avoid falling sick, the doctor prescribes the patient profilakticheskoe treatment:

The patient with a stable tachycardia will have a long treatment and constant medical observation. The main goal is to prevent the development of pathology, which leads eventually to a heart attack.

Is it possible to prevent the disease?

Ventricular tachycardia occurs for many reasons, the main of which is the wrong way of life. Never to get into the group risk is to protect themselves and «listen» to his condition. The rules are:

• avoiding alcohol and Smoking;
• balanced diet;
• regular exercise;
• monitoring of body weight;
• the control pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar;
• timely treatment of heart disease.

If a patient has a hereditary ventricular tachycardia, the examination must pass all his relatives.