A 39-year-old member asked:
could doctors miss an arrhythmia ?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in

Dr. Li-Yu Mitchell answered
Family Medicine 22 years experience
Yes: If your arrhythmia is one that is intermittent, doctors can miss hearing it on a routine exam in the office. Sometimes an event monitor (a heart monitor that is worn for a few weeks continuously) is necessary to diagnose arrhythmias.
4088 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
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Similar questions
A 39-year-old member asked:
What is a "bigeminy arrhythmia" and is it serious?
3 doctor answers • 6 doctors weighed in

Dr. Danny Proffitt answered
Family Medicine 43 years experience
Maybe: This is a rhythm where the natural pacemaker is causing a beat and then the ventricular innate pacemaker causes a premature beat giving a normal beat followed by a PVC and repeating this process over and over. This is sometimes present and not issues are identified and tolerated well. Others may have underlying cardiovascular disease and this could be a harbinger of a significant problem. C pcp.
6144 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
What is the difference between ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmia?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in

Dr. Luke Hermann answered
Emergency Medicine 25 years experience
Degree of danger: Although supraventricular arrhythmias (rhythm disturbances that originate in the atria) may lead to serious health problems over time, they are rarely an immediate life threat. In contrast, ventricular arrhythmias are truly life threatening and if not rapidly treated can lead to cardiac arrest and death. Automatic external defibrillators (aed's) were developed to treat ventricular arrythmias.
6332 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
What is an arrhythmia?
4 doctor answers • 10 doctors weighed in

Dr. Shahin Tavackoli answered
Cardiology 23 years experience
Irregular heart beat.: An arrhythmia is an irregularity of heart rhythm. There are many forms of arrhythmias, some arising from the upper chambers of the heart (atria) and some from the lower chambers (ventricles). In general, most of the atrial arrhythmias are benign and most of the ventricular arrhythmias are problematic. Your cardiologist usually treats the arrhythmias or may refer you to an electrophysiologist.
6280 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
India
A 24-year-old member asked:
What sort of problem is an arrhythmia?
2 doctor answers • 6 doctors weighed in

Dr. Frederick Shieh answered
Specializes in Gastroenterology
Irregular rhythm: An arrhythmia is when the heart does not beat in the normal regular pattern that it usually does. This can be benign (where you have an occasional extra beat every now and then), to severe (a life-threatening irregular rhythm where the heart can not pump enough blood).
6040 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Please tell me, could doctors miss an arrhythmia ?
2 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in

Dr. Calvin Weisberger answered
Cardiology 51 years experience
Arrhythmia: Doctors are not perfect. The tests we use are also not perfect. We can miss things including arrhythmias. Having said that it probably is not terribly common as suspecting arrhythmia is fairly straightforward and tests to reveal occult arrhythmia are readily available.
4496 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
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Last updated May 10, 2014
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