Fast Facts: Cardiac Arrhythmias (Fast Facts (Health Press))

The diagnosis and management of heart rhythm abnormalities is often viewed as a complex and inaccessible area of modern cardiology shrouded in technical detail. Fast Facts: Cardiac Arrhythmias demystifies the subject with a straightforward approach to rhythm abnormality, asking how the patient with arrhythmia presents, how the problem should be investigated and how the arrhythmia can be managed. Highlights include: a succinct description of normal conductionA simple classification of arrhythmias based on 12-lead ECG patterns; a concise explanation of the mechanisms of arrhythmias with clear well-annotated illustrationsA comprehensive review of presenting signs and symptoms, with key questions to ask the patient; a logical approach to investigation: predict it (history and examination), wait for it (monitoring) or provoke it (electrophysiological testing); Practical information on management options: pharmacological therapy, direct cardioversion, catheter ablation and cardiac devices Contents: Conduction within the heart; Classification and mechanisms of arrhythmias; Presenting signs and symptoms; Investigation; Management principles; Supraventricular arrhythmias; Atrial flutter; Atrial fibrillation; Ventricular arrhythmias; Rare and unusual arrhythmias; Cardiac devices: Pacemakers and defibrillators