Arrhythmia Types

Related Information: • Facts about arrhythmias/rhythm disorders • Treating arrhythmias • Types of arrhythmias • What happens during arrhythmias?

Arrhythmia types are described depending on where they originate.

Originating in the Atria:

• Sinus arrhythmia. Cyclic changes in the heart rate during breathing. Common in children and often found in adults.
• Sinus tachycardia. The sinus node sends out electrical signals faster than usual, speeding up the heart rate.
• Sick sinus syndrome. The sinus node does not fire its signals properly, so that the heart rate slows down. Sometimes the rate changes back and forth between a slow (bradycardia) and fast (tachycardia) rate.
• Premature supraventricular contractions or premature atrial contractions (PAC). A beat occurs early in the atria, causing the heart to beat before the next regular heartbeat.
• Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT). A series of early beats in the atria speed up the heart rate (the number of times a heart beats per minute). In paroxysmal tachycardia, repeated periods of very fast heartbeats begin and end suddenly.
• Atrial flutter. Rapidly fired signals cause the muscles in the atria to contract quickly, leading to a very fast, steady heartbeat.
• Atrial fibrillation. Electrical signals in the atria are fired in a very fast and uncontrolled manner. Electrical signals arrive in the ventricles in a completely irregular fashion, so the heartbeat is completely irregular.
• Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Abnormal pathways between the atria and ventricles cause the electrical signal to arrive at the ventricles too soon and to be transmitted back into the atria. Very fast heart rates may develop as the electrical signal ricochets between the atria and ventricles.

Originating in the Ventricles:

• Premature ventricular complexes (PVC). An electrical signal from the ventricles causes an early heartbeat that generally goes unnoticed. The heart then seems to pause until the next beat of the ventricle occurs in a regular fashion.
• Ventricular tachycardia. The heart beats fast due to electrical signals arising from the ventricles (rather than from the atria).
• Ventricular fibrillation. Electrical signals in the ventricles are fired in a very fast and uncontrolled manner, causing the heart to quiver rather than beat and pump blood.

Source: National Institutes of Health