Arrhythmia - Diagnosis - Diagnosis

To diagnose an arrhythmia, your doctor will ask about your eating and physical activity habits, family history, and other risk factors for arrhythmia. Your doctor may ask whether you have any other signs or symptoms. This information can help your doctor determine whether you have complications or other conditions that may be causing you to have arrhythmia.

During a physical exam, your doctor may take these steps:

• Check for swelling in your legs or feet, which could be a sign of an enlarged heart or heart failure
• Check your pulse to find out how fast your heart is beating
• Listen to the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat
• Listen to your heart for a heart murmur
• Look for signs of other diseases, such as thyroid disease, that could be causing the arrhythmia

Your doctor may order some of the following tests to diagnose arrhythmia:

• Blood tests to check the level of certain substances in the blood, such as potassium and thyroid hormone, that can increase your risk of arrhythmia.
• Cardiac catheterization to see whether you have complications from heart disease.
• Chest X-ray to show whether your heart is larger than normal.
• Echocardiography (echo) to provide information about the size and shape of your heart and how well it is working. Echocardiography may also be used to diagnose fetal arrhythmia in the womb.
• EKG, or ECG, to see how fast the heart is beating and whether its rhythm is steady or irregular. This is the most common test used to diagnose arrhythmias.
• Electrophysiology study (EPS) to look at the electrical activity of the heart. The study uses a wire to electrically stimulate your heart and trigger an arrhythmia. If your doctor has already detected another condition that raises your risk, an EPS can help him or her assess the possibility that an arrhythmia will develop. An EPS also allows your doctor to see whether a treatment, such as medicine, will stop the problem.
• Holter or event monitor to record your heart’s electrical activity over long periods of time while you do your normal activities.
• Implantable loop recorder to detect abnormal heart rhythms. It is placed under the skin and continuously records your heart’s electrical activity. The recorder can transmit data to the doctor’s office to help with monitoring. An implantable loop recorder helps doctors figure out why a person may be having palpitations or fainting spells, especially if these symptoms do not happen very often.
• Sleep study to see whether sleep apnea is causing your arrhythmia.
• Stress test or exercise stress test to detect arrhythmias that happen while the heart is working hard and beating fast. If you cannot exercise, you may be given medicine to make your heart work hard and beat fast.
• Tilt table testing to help find the cause of fainting spells. You lie on a table that moves from a lying-down position to an upright position. The change in position may cause you to faint. Your doctor watches your symptoms, heart rate, EKG reading, and blood pressure throughout the test.
• Ultrasound to diagnose a suspected fetal arrhythmia in the womb.

• Return to Risk Factors to review family history, lifestyle, or other environmental factors that increase your risk of developing arrhythmia.
• Return to Signs, Symptoms, and Complications to review common signs and symptoms of arrhythmia.
• Return to Screening and Prevention to review how to screen for arrhythmia.