Do you feel your heart in your throat? It can be love or…tachyarrhythmia

By Cristiano Antonino Last updated Jun 19, 2023

Let’s talk about tachyarrhythmia. The sensation of “heart in the throat”, a perception of a sudden change in heart rhythm and rapid and sudden accelerations: all these can be symptoms of a tachyarrhythmia, or a disordered increase in heart rhythm with beats exceeding 90 per minute

The characteristic of tachyarrhythmia consists in this accelerated rhythm which can be fixed or alternate with the regular one, and there are essentially two types: atrial-type tachyarrhythmia and ventricular-type tachyarrhythmia, extremely dangerous for those who suffer from it.

In this article we will see together how to recognize the symptoms of a tachyarrhythmia, how it is possible to diagnose tachyarrhythmia, what are the pathologies related to a tachyarrhythmia, which drugs to take for tachyarrhythmia and much more.

Tachyarrhythmia and Tachycardia: Different or Synonymous?

At this point you may be wondering if the term tachyarrhythmia is synonymous with tachycardia, and the answer is no: they are two terms that underlie different symptoms.

While tachycardia records alterations exclusively in the frequency of the heartbeat, which is regular but more accelerated, tachyarrhythmia also involves irregularities in the pulse.

Tachyarrhythmia generally tends to be more severe and, in some cases, can even be fatal.

Precise meaning of tachyarrhythmia

At the base of tachyarrhythmia there is an abnormal cardiac contraction capable of accelerating and altering the heart rhythm beyond 90/100 beats per minute.

This generally alternates with regular beat phases.

In medicine, there are two different types of tachyarrhythmia, depending on the part of the heart where the stimulus for the abnormal contraction starts, namely:

atrial tachyarrhythmia
ventricular tachyarrhythmia

The symptoms may be similar, but unfortunately the consequences are very different.

The differential diagnosis is usually made by performing an electrocardiogram.

Let’s see below what distinguishes an atrial tachyarrhythmia from a ventricular tachyarrhythmia.

Atrial tachyarrhythmia

Atrial tachyarrhythmia is a less dangerous form than ventricular, but not without complications.

A very common example of atrial tachyarrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, which causes a very rapid and irregular heartbeat.

When atrial fibrillation becomes persistent, it can be responsible for some serious complications, as the patient is more at risk of developing ischemic heart disease or heart failure.

Ventricular tachyarrhythmia

Extremely dangerous and potentially lethal for the patient, ventricular tachyarrhythmia is defined as a hyperkinetic arrhythmia with beats between 100-150 per minute.

The disturbance in this type of arrhythmia affects the part of the heart called the ventricle, which is most important for the heart’s pump function.

The disorder usually affects patients with underlying heart disease or who have had a history of myocardial infarction or cardiomyopathy.

As already mentioned, since it causes significant cardiac dysfunction, it is potentially lethal for the patient.

When a ventricular tachyarrhythmia is established, the patient complains of palpitations, and in a short time the clinical situation can evolve to sudden cardiac death or to a severe condition of hemodynamic compromise that requires urgent medical treatment.

Symptoms of tachyarrhythmia

Atrial and ventricular tachyarrhythmias share most of the symptoms, with the difference that the latter can also lead to sudden death.

Generally, the symptoms begin with a state of severe anxiety and anguish, and the typical fear that a heart attack is about to occur.

What you experience, in fact, is quite similar: severe chest pains, a sense of chest compression, headaches and more.

Here are listed all the main symptoms of a tachyarrhythmia:

palpitations
chest pain
chest tightness
shortness of breath, feeling short of breath
sweating
weakness
dizziness
fatigue
feeling anxious and fearful

The possible causes

A tachyarrhythmia can be triggered by various factors.

One of these, for example, is the exaggerated intake of caffeine or drinks that contain a lot of it.

Obviously, caffeine by itself is rarely fatal: it is more dangerous where there are concomitant risk factors for tachyarrhythmias, such as previous damage and organic alterations of the heart (for example, coronary insufficiency or arteriosclerosis), genetics, incorrect nutrition with a picture of obesity, alcohol or drug abuse.

Pregnant women or those who undergo excessive physical exertion are also more at risk than the general population of developing episodes of tachyarrhythmia.

How do you treat a tachyarrhythmia

When there is an ongoing tachyarrhythmia, the first thing to do is certainly try to stabilize the heart rhythm.

This can happen, in the forms that require more timely treatment, using a defibrillator immediately, which thanks to electrical therapy is able to restore a normal rhythm.

Alternatively, following the indication of your doctor, you can proceed with drug therapy, usually prescribed only after carrying out some tests to better study the patient’s hemodynamic condition.

The drugs used to treat and control tachyarrhythmias are mainly amiodarone and adenosine.

Amiodarone is a drug that adapts to any type of tachyarrhythmia, which is generally prescribed as symptomatic therapy where the cause of the tachyarrhythmia has not been recognized.

Adenosine, on the other hand, slows ventricular activity and restores sinus rhythm: it is generally a hospital therapy.

In all cases, it will be important to evaluate and minimize the risk factors that may have led to the onset of the tachyarrhythmia.

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