The method of cardiac rhythm management depends firstly on whether the affected person is stable or unstable. Treatments may include physical maneuvers, medications, electricity conversion, or electro- or cryo-cautery. In the United States, people admitted to the hospital with cardiac arrhythmia and conduction disorders with and without complications were admitted to the intensive care unit more than half the time in 2011. Physical maneuvers Several physical acts can increase parasympathetic nervous supply to the heart, resulting in blocking of electrical conduction through the AV node. This can slow down or stop several arrhythmias that originate above or at the AV node (see main article: supraventricular tachycardias). Parasympathetic nervous supply to the heart is via the vagus nerve, and these maneuvers are collectively known as vagal maneuvers. Antiarrhythmic drugs There are many classes of antiarrhythmic medications, with different mechanisms of action and many different individual drugs within these classes. Although the goal of drug therapy is to prevent arrhythmia, nearly every antiarrhythmic drug has the potential to act as a pro-arrhythmic, and so must be carefully selected and used under medical supervision. Other drugs Several other drugs can be useful in cardiac arrhythmias. Several groups of drugs slow conduction through the heart, without actually preventing an arrhythmia. These drugs can be used to "rate control" a fast rhythm and make it physically tolerable for the patient. Some arrhythmias promote blood clotting within the heart and increase the risk of embolus and stroke. Anticoagulant medications such as warfarin and heparins, and anti-platelet drugs such as aspirin can reduce the risk of clotting. Electricity Arrhythmias may also be treated electrically, by applying a shock across the heart – either externally to the chest wall, or internally to the heart via implanted electrodes. Cardioversion is either achieved pharmacologically or via the application of a shock synchronized to the underlying heartbeat. It is used for the treatment of supraventricular tachycardias. In elective cardioversion, the recipient is usually sedated or lightly anesthetized for the procedure. Defibrillation differs in that the shock is not synchronized. It is needed for the chaotic rhythm of ventricular fibrillation and is also used for pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Often, more electricity is required for defibrillation than for cardioversion. In most defibrillation, the recipient has lost consciousness so there is no need for sedation. Defibrillation or cardioversion may be accomplished by an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Electrical treatment of arrhythmias also includes cardiac pacing. Temporary pacing may be necessary for reversible causes of very slow heartbeats, or bradycardia (for example, from drug overdose or myocardial infarction). A permanent pacemaker may be placed in situations where the bradycardia is not expected to recover. Electrical cautery Some cardiologists further sub-specialize into electrophysiology. In specialized catheter laboratories, they use fine probes inserted through the blood vessels to map electrical activity from within the heart. This allows abnormal areas of conduction to be located very accurately and subsequently destroyed by heat, cold, electrical, or laser probes in a process called catheter ablation. This procedure may be completely curative for some forms of arrhythmia, but for others, the success rate remains disappointing. AV nodal reentrant tachycardia is often curable by ablating one of the pathways in the AV node (usually the slow pathway). Atrial fibrillation can also be treated, by performing a pulmonary vein isolation, but the results are less reliable.
complications of Dilated cardiomyopathy
medical cause of Dilated cardiomyopathy
complications of Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
complications of Atrial fibrillation
complications of Myocardial stunning
complications of Pericarditis
complications of Long QT syndrome
complications of Left ventricular hypertrophy