 | Joseph P. Galichia, MD is the founder and Medical Director of the Galichia Medical Group, PA. He is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of interventional cardiology. In the 70's, Dr. Galichia studied in Zurich, Switzerland with the inventors of the balloon angioplasty technique for treating heart disease. As a result of his experience, he was able to bring this historic technique back to the United States where he was one of the first physicians to perform coronary angioplasty here. A noted medical spokesman, he appears on a weekly Newstalk segment on KWCH Channel 12 and has a weekly syndicated radio talk show on KNSS 1330 AM every Saturday live from 11:00 am to noon. Dr. Galichia may be contacted by sending an e-mail to service@galichia.com |
Health & Medicine
2002-08-01 10:47:00
About missed heart beats
Dr. Joseph Galichia
Question: My wife is having some problems within the last few weeks. Several times a day she feels as though her heart skips a beat or two. She says it feels as if she is in an elevator that descends suddenly and rapidly. She is 47 and of normal height and weight. What could this be? Answer: You are describing a common complaint I hear daily in my office, namely that of a skipped beat or a sense of cardiac irregularity that occurs randomly and intermittently. Fortunately, most of these "skipped beats" are benign, but they may also be a sign of significant underlying heart disease. The irregularities are due to irritable areas of electrical activities in either the reservoir or the pumping chambers of the heart. If the heart is normal in its structure and if the blood vessels supplying the heart are normal, the skipped beats are usually of little consequence. Conversely, if the heart is structurally abnormal, the irregular beats may be a sign of serious consequence.I always recommend that these palpitations deserve evaluation. A good physical exam plus a simple EKG, an echocardiogram and perhaps a stress test help us to better understand the risk imposed by these irregularities. Any associated symptoms such as passing out, chest pain, shortness of breath or fatigue also imply a more serious nature to these complaints. At age 47 an evaluation of this type is extremely important.
