What to do if you have arrhythmia? Expert recommended treatment

Arrhythmia is a type of heart disease. Arrhythmia can cause patients to experience irregular heartbeats and difficulty breathing, so arrhythmia must be treated in a timely manner. Some drugs are very effective in treating arrhythmia, but it depends on the condition of the disease.

1. General treatment currently includes increasing myocardial autonomy and/or accelerating conduction through Western medicines such as isoproterenol and atropine , and non-drug therapies such as pacemakers, defibrillators, and radiofrequency ablation. In some cases, methods such as compressing the eyeballs, massaging the carotid sinus, pinching the nose to exhale forcefully, and holding the breath can also relieve arrhythmias by reflexively stimulating the vagus nerve.

2. Commonly used antiarrhythmic drugs There are nearly 50 kinds of antiarrhythmic drugs currently in clinical use , and there is still no unified classification standard. Most scholars agree that antiarrhythmic drugs should be divided into the following four categories based on their different effects on the heart to guide rational clinical drug use. Class I drugs are further divided into three subcategories: A, B, and C.

(1) Class I, i.e. sodium channel blockers.

1) Class IA moderately blocks sodium channels, including drugs such as quinidine.

2) Class IB mildly blocks sodium channels, including drugs such as lidocaine.

3) IC and class I obviously block sodium channels, and drugs of this class include flecainide and others.

(2) Class II: β-adrenergic receptor blockers, which are effective because they block β-receptors. The representative drug is propranolol.

(3) Class III: drugs that selectively prolong the repolarization process, including amiodarone.

(4) Class IV, namely calcium antagonists. They block calcium channels and inhibit Ca2+ influx. Representative drugs include verapamil. Long-term use of antiarrhythmic drugs has side effects to varying degrees, severe cases of which can cause ventricular arrhythmias or heart block and be fatal. Therefore, during clinical application, the indications should be strictly followed and adverse reactions should be noted so that emergency response can be prepared at any time.