Afib, NSVT, Tach etc

[IMFletcher]

Hi - can someone briefly explain what all of these conditions are? How are they diagnosed? Monitors, ECG, or echo? Do people "feel" these conditions? My problem has been episodic PVCs, sometimes several a minute for hours at a time. Just recently I felt the sensation of a PVC, checked my pulse (natural reaction), and noticed I had a brief period (maybe 10 seconds) where my heart rate went from approximately 60bpm to 120 bpm, then returned back to 60 bpm. Anyone else ever have this happen? Do individuals dealing with Afib or NSVT have other symptoms - shortness of breath, dizziness etc? I have read that many PVC sufferers seem to have experienced incidents where their heart rates have jumped up briefly, but this was a first for me. Thanks in advance for any input.

[is_something_wrong]

Thanks. Glad you found it useful.

They are all monitored with different variants of EKG, but it's important that you have symptoms when monitored. Otherwise your EKG will be normal. A 12 lead EKG is best but Holters/Event monitors will work as well.

Echo can find changes in the heart causing the conditions, but can't diagnose them.

[curmudgen]

Your brief increase in heart rate could be due to any number of things, more likely anxiety.  The monitor will show any change/irregularity in heart rhythm but will not find the external source for it.  Sometimes, as you know, what we feel doesn't always show up.  An occasional increase in pulse rate can be perfectly normal as long as it returns to normal in a reasonable period of time.  Been there.

[IMFletcher]

Thank you. Great post. I appreciate the information. I usually suffer from PVCs (trigeminy) sometimes for long periods, but that was my first sensation of a very brief elevated heart rate. I am guessing that NSVT was probably the culprit. I am getting a 48 hour holter monitor tomorrow, so I will see what shows up...I had no dizziness or shortness of breath, and as I said previously, it was very brief. BTW - how are these conditions detected? ECG, Monitors, Echo?

[is_something_wrong]

Hello.

Afib (atrial fibrillation). A condition where the upper chambers fibrillate - they have 5-10 unsynchronized electrical circuits which all fires at 60-100 BPM, making the effective rate 400-600 BPM. Luckily, most of the impulses are blocked (both by other impulses and the AV node) so the ventricular rate (heart rate) is 100-170 BPM without medication, and 60-100 BPM with medications. A-fib is often caused by changes or irritability in the atrias. It's a common arrhythmia in people 60+ where it's often permanent.

NSVT (nonsustained ventricular tachycardia): An abnormal pacemaker in the ventricles fire a line of PVCs with no normal beats between. NSVT is a rare condition and often a sign of heart disease. In healthy hearts, it may occur with high adrenaline levels if you have irritable spots in the right ventricle. People with thousands of PVCs often experience NSVT.

Tach (tachycardia): A general term for all heart rates >100 BPM, regardless of origin. Most common one is sinus tachycardia (with exercise, anxiety, fever, etc). Supraventricular tachycardias are common, and if your HR went from 60 to 120 and immediately returned to 60, you probably had a brief event of supraventricular tachycardia.

NSVT is often symptomatic (loss of pulse, dizziness if it's not very short). All tachycardias can cause dizziness but ventricular is worse than supraventricular because the ventricles aren't synchronized and you don't get the atrial pumping effect.