Cardiology\ Palpitations Flashcards
1
Q
What are palpitations?
A
An unpleasant awareness of a forceful, rapid, or irregular heart beat
2
Q
Causes of palpitations
A
- Pyschiatric causes
- Cardiac causes
- Drug-induced
- Metabolic/endocrine causes
3
Q
What are psychiatric causes of palpitations?
A
- Panic disorder
- generalized anxiety disorder
- somatization
- depression
4
Q
What are cardiac causes of palpitations?
A
- Supraventricular tachycardia
- ventricular ectopy
- nonsustained ventricular tachycardia
- atrial fibrillation
- atrial flutter
- tachycardia with variable block
- valvular disease
- cardiomyopathy
- atrial myxoma
5
Q
What drugs are associated with palpitations?
A
- Sympathomimetics
- vasodilators (which can cause reflex tachycardia)
- anticholinergics
- cocaine
- nicotine
- caffeine
6
Q
Metabolic/endocrine causes of palpitations
A
- hypoglycemia
- thyrotoxicosis
- pheochromocytoma
7
Q
What test should be performed for all patients with palpitations?
A
ECG
8
Q
How do Holter monitors differ from continuous loop event recorders?
A
- Holter monitors save data for 24-48 hours with patients keeping a log of symptoms.
- Event recorders only save data preceding and following an event (patients manually activate the monitor).
9
Q
Which has a higher diagnostic yield for palpitations - Loop event recorders or Holter monitors?
A
Continuous loop event recorders
