Extra heartbeat?!
Question:
Extra heartbeat?
I just found out that my mom has an extra heartbeat and has to go on a monitor. I don't know anything about this as I have actually never heard of somebody having an extra heartbeat. Does anybody else out there have this and can explain what this means for my mom and if I should be concerned. Thanks for your help.
Answers:
It means that there is some ectopy in your mother's heart, either ventricular or atrial. There is a area in the upper part of the heart called the sinus node--it is the pacemaker of the heart and sets the rhythm. Occaisonally other parts of the heart get excited and send a signal out themselves--kind of like in a large band, if a drummer occaisonally hit the drum at the wrong time. If it just happens rarely, then this is not a big deal. However, if the heart decided to "listen" to that other part of the heart and run on its timing and not the main pacemaker, this can cause problems--like SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) or VT.