Hartblok
- Article
- 2021-02-01
Also known as Heart Block
Conduction disturbance is a problem with the electrical system that makes your heart beat and regulates its speed and rhythm. This system is called the cardiac conduction system. Normally, the electrical signal that makes your heart beat travels from the top of your heart to the bottom. The signal triggers your heart muscle, causing your heart to beat and pump blood to your lungs and body. In conduction disturbances, this electrical signal is not generated properly, or it does not pass through the heart properly, or both.
The types of conduction disorders, such as atrioventricular (AV) blocks and bundle branch blocks, vary depending on where they occur in the conduction system. Certain medications can cause conduction disturbances, as well as conditions such as ischemic heart disease or heart attack, or your genetics. Your doctor may be able to diagnose a conduction disorder with an electrocardiogram (EKG), a measurement of your heart's electrical activity.
Conduction disturbances can be treated with medications, pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and surgical procedures. Treatment depends on the location, type, and severity of your conduction disturbance. Your doctor will consider how the condition affects your heart and symptoms, which can vary from person to person. Sometimes an irregular heartbeat called an arrhythmia is the first sign of a conduction disturbance. If untreated, severe conduction disturbances can lead to sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart suddenly stops beating.
To learn more about conduction disorders such as sick sinus syndrome, AV block, and bundle branch blocks, as well as our role in research and clinical trials to improve health, check out this health topic and where to find more information.
The types of conduction disorders, such as atrioventricular (AV) blocks and bundle branch blocks, vary depending on where they occur in the conduction system. Certain medications can cause conduction disturbances, as well as conditions such as ischemic heart disease or heart attack, or your genetics. Your doctor may be able to diagnose a conduction disorder with an electrocardiogram (EKG), a measurement of your heart's electrical activity.
Conduction disturbances can be treated with medications, pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and surgical procedures. Treatment depends on the location, type, and severity of your conduction disturbance. Your doctor will consider how the condition affects your heart and symptoms, which can vary from person to person. Sometimes an irregular heartbeat called an arrhythmia is the first sign of a conduction disturbance. If untreated, severe conduction disturbances can lead to sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart suddenly stops beating.
To learn more about conduction disorders such as sick sinus syndrome, AV block, and bundle branch blocks, as well as our role in research and clinical trials to improve health, check out this health topic and where to find more information.
Symptoms
You may experience the following signs or symptoms if you have a conduction disorder:
- Fatigue
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Slow or fast heartbeat
- Shortness of breath
- Palpitations
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Stomach ache
- Nausea
- Fainting or loss of consciousness
- Panting or labored breathing during sleep
- Epileptic attacks
Therapy
If you're diagnosed with a conduction condition, your doctor may recommend lifestyle changes, medications, surgery, or a different procedure to treat your condition. Conduction disturbances can be a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment in a hospital emergency department.
Healthy lifestyle changes
Different conduction disorders have different triggers. Depending on your condition, your doctor may ask you to do one or more of the following.
- Avoid medications that can cause or worsen your conduction disturbance.
- Limit exposure to sudden noises, as in your profession.
- Limit physical activity or use precautions if exercise puts you at higher risk for dangerous heart rhythms. For example, swimming can be risky for people with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.
- Make heart-healthy lifestyle changes, including heart-healthy eating, dealing with stress, and limiting alcohol.
Medicines
Your doctor may recommend one or more of the following types of drugs to treat your conduction disorder:
- Atropine to increase heart rate in severe forms of AV block.
- Beta blockers to reduce the activity of the stress hormones and make your heart rate slower. Examples of beta blockers are nadolol, propranolol and metoprolol.
- Other drugs, such as antiarrhythmics, can be used to treat certain types of arrhythmias.
Surgery and other procedures
Your doctor may recommend one of the following procedures to treat a conduction disorder or to implant a medical device.
- Pacemakers to help keep your heart rate at a normal pace. Various conduction disturbances, including SSS and more severe types of AV blockages, are treated with a pacemaker. Pacemakers can prevent fainting and improve survival. With research, new, more effective pacemaker technologies are emerging. C.Pacemaker complications can include infection, bleeding, and damage to the heart or heart valves.
- Radio-frequency catheter ablation to help prevent abnormal electrical activity. This type of catheter ablation uses radiofrequency energy to destroy a small portion of the heart tissue that is causing the abnormal electrical activity or arrhythmia.
- Other procedures, such as inserting an ICD - a type of defibrillator - or wearing away or removing nerves that overstimulate the heart, called sympathetic denervation of the left heart, can be used to treat arrhythmias. Read more about these procedures in Living With.
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