Palpitations
Background
- Sensation of rapid or irregular heart rate
Red flags
- Cardiac disease
- Known ECG abnormality
- Syncope/pre-syncope
- Exertional palpitations
- Hypotension or relative hypotension
- Heart failure symptoms
Clinical Features
Differential Diagnosis
Palpitations
- Arrhythmias:
- Non-arrhythmic cardiac causes:
- Psychiatric causes:
- Panic attack
- Anxiety
- Somatic Symptom Disorder
- Drugs and Medications:
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Drugs of abuse (e.g. cocaine)
- Medications (e.g. digoxin, theophylline)
- Tobacco
- Misc
Evaluation
Work-Up
- ECG
- CBC
- BMP
- TSH
- CXR
- Troponin in patients with suspicion for underlying heart disease or failure
- Consider extended electrolytes (Mg/Phos)
- Consider toxicologic work-up if concern for intoxications
Diagnosis
- Thyroid exam
- Careful cardiac exam for murmurs
- Cardiac monitoring
- Consider walk test if palpitations primarily present with exertion
Management
- Etiology specific
Disposition
- Etiology specific
- Consideration for Holter monitoring (or similar) with outpatient cardiologist if clinically stable for discharge home
- Recommend avoidance of stimulants and alcohol pending outpatient follow-up
- Criteria for admission from Management of patients with palpitations: a position paper from the European Heart Rhythm Association[1]
Criteria for the hospitalization of patients with palpitations from Management of patients with palpitations: a position paper from the European Heart Rhythm Association, EP Europace, Volume 13, Issue 7, July 2011, Pages 920–934, https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/eur130
See Also
- Antonio Raviele, Franco Giada, Lennart Bergfeldt, Jean Jacques Blanc, Carina Blomstrom-Lundqvist, Lluis Mont, John M. Morgan, M.J. Pekka Raatikainen, Gerhard Steinbeck, Sami Viskin, Document reviewers, Paulus Kirchhof, Frieder Braunschweig, Martin Borggrefe, Meleze Hocini, Paolo Della Bella, Dipen Chandrakant Shah, Management of patients with palpitations: a position paper from the European Heart Rhythm Association, EP Europace, Volume 13, Issue 7, July 2011, Pages 920–934, https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/eur130
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