What medication is used to treat fetal arrhythmias?
Published reports of many experienced clinicians show that digoxin remains a mainstream drug for therapy for fetal SVT and AF; digoxin is used as an initial monotherapy or in combination with other drugs if unresponsive to digoxin alone.
What medications are normally indicated for pregnant clients diagnosed with a cardiac disease?
Sotalol, flecainide, and propafenone can be considered if rhythm-control is needed. Intravenous procainamide is used for the treatment of atrial fibrillation with pre-excitation (wide complex tachycardia). Beta-blockers are used frequently for the treatment of several cardiovascular conditions during pregnancy.
What is used to treat arrhythmias?
Other types of heart drugs can be used to treat arrhythmias, too: Beta-blockers such as metoprolol or Toprol XL lessens the heart’s workload and heart rate. Calcium channel blockers such as verapamil or Calan also lower the heart rate.
What is fetal cardiac arrhythmia?
Fetal arrhythmia is a term that refers to any abnormality in the heart rate of your baby. These can include tachycardia–an increased heart rate–or bradycardia, which is a slowed heartbeat. The normal heart rate for a fetus is anywhere between 120 and 160 beats per minute.
What can cause fetal arrhythmia?
The cause of most arrhythmias is unknown but some cases may result from an electrolyte imbalance, inflammation, medication or an inherited genetic condition. Severe cases of arrhythmia may be caused by a heart defect such as congenital heart block or by an inherited condition known as long QT syndrome.
What is the most common fetal arrhythmia?
Irregular rhythms An irregular rhythm is the most common cause of fetal arrhythmia seen in clinical practice. Most are caused by frequent ectopic beats. Ectopic beats are usually atrial in origin, though occasionally they are ventricular in origin.
What is fatal arrhythmia?
Ventricular fibrillation is one type of arrhythmia that can be deadly. It occurs when the heart beats with rapid, erratic electrical impulses. This causes the lower chambers in your heart (ventricles) to quiver uselessly instead of pumping blood.
How common is fetal heart arrhythmia?
Detection of some dropped or extra beats (arrhythmia) is fairly common, occurring in 1 to 2 percent of pregnancies.
What causes arrhythmia?
Arrhythmias can be caused by:
- Coronary artery disease.
- High blood pressure.
- Changes in the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy)
- Valve disorders.
- Electrolyte imbalances in the blood, such as sodium or potassium.
- Injury from a heart attack.
- The healing process after heart surgery.
- Other medical conditions.
How do you fix an arrhythmia?
If you have a certain type of arrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation, your doctor may use cardioversion, which can be conducted as a procedure or by using medications. In the procedure, a shock is delivered to your heart through paddles or patches on your chest.
What foods to avoid if you have arrhythmia?
Eric Williams with Mercy Clinic Cardiology has six things that can aggravate arrhythmia:
- Too much caffeine. One or two cups of coffee a day is probably fine.
- Alcohol. Heavy drinking can cause damage to your heart cells and cause extra heartbeats.
- Sodium.
- Tyramine.
- Herbal supplements.
- Oversized portions.
Can you live with irregular heartbeat?
People with harmless arrhythmias can live healthy lives and usually don’t need treatment for their arrhythmias. Even people with serious types of arrhythmia are often treated successfully and lead normal lives.
Can an irregular heartbeat go back to normal?
If an irregular rhythm, or atrial fibrillation, is triggered by an OTC preparation, it may persist for some period of time. But generally, it goes away on its own.
Can stress cause an irregular heartbeat?
Tackle stress, anxiety and depression to benefit your heart. Stress can contribute to heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias) such as atrial fibrillation.