The other instruments on the tip of the catheter allow it to sense electrical patterns of your heart and to act as a temporary pacemaker. The pictures show up on a screen in the operating room. The catheter has tiny instruments on its tip, including a camera so the doctor can see where the catheter is going. The doctor then snakes the tube through your body to the heart. This is an invasive procedure, which is why it is used only after other less serious tests are tried.įor the study, a cardiologist inserts a thin tube, called a catheter, into an incision in your groin. If your doctor still can't diagnose the problem, he or she may suggest you get an electrophysiologic study (EPS). Then your doctor compares the timing of your symptoms to the timing of any abnormalities that the monitor records. When you feel an arrhythmia symptom, you write down the date and time. That way, you can wear the Holter monitor (also called an event monitor) and go about your day-to-day activities. Like an EKG, a Holter monitor records the heart's electrical activity via electrodes, but a Holter monitor is attached to a small recording device. One of the common tests for sick sinus syndrome is a Holter monitor. However, an EKG may not tell your doctor for certain what condition is causing your problem, so further testing is often necessary. You will also get an electrocardiogram (EKG, which is a test that can detect arrhythmias). If an abnormal heart rate is detected, your doctor will review the medications you take to make sure that none of them are contributing to the problem. (However, even people with sick sinus syndrome may have a normal heart beat during an office visit, especially if they are not having any symptoms at that time.) Your doctor might suspect you have sick sinus syndrome if he or she detects a very slow or irregular heart beat when examining you. Injuries can occur if you fall during a fainting episode. Over the long term, sick sinus syndrome can increase your risk for stroke and heart failure. the sensation of feeling the heart beat (palpitations).Therefore, it is very hard to diagnose sick sinus syndrome just on the basis of symptoms. When it does cause symptoms, they are very vague and can be attributed to many other disorders. Most of the time, sick sinus syndrome doesn't cause any symptoms. These include the following drugs, which are all prescribed for various heart problems: idiopathic degenerative disease (changes to the area of the heart around the sinus node that occur with aging)Ĭertain medications can make abnormal heart rhythms worse.What causes sick sinus syndrome is not completely understood, but we do know that disorders that cause scarring, degeneration, or damage to the heart can cause sick sinus syndrome. Of the three arrhythmias that fall under the term sick sinus syndrome, sinus bradycardia is the most common. The average age of a person with sick sinus syndrome is about 68. It is even less common in younger people. One study estimates that sick sinus syndrome occurs in about one in every 600 people with cardiovascular disease older than 65. How many people have it is hard to say because it often doesn't cause any symptoms and therefore many people may be living with it and not know it. Sick sinus syndrome is a relatively uncommon problem. In someone with sick sinus syndrome, these signals do not come at a steady pace. This group of specialized cells in the upper right chamber of the heart controls the heart's rhythm by sending electrical signals that tell the heart to beat. bradycardia-tachycardia, which causes alternating slow and fast heart rhythmsĪ problem with a part of the heart called the sinus node causes these arrhythmias.Types of tachycardias include atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter/tachycardia, and supraventricular tachycardia tachycardias, which cause fast heart rates, often followed by a very slow heart rate.sinus bradycardia, which causes a slow heart rate.Sick sinus syndrome is an umbrella term that covers three heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias):
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