Bundle branch block

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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Bundle branch block is a condition in which there's a delay or obstruction along the pathway that electrical impulses travel to make your heart beat. Bundle branch block can occur in people who appear healthy, and it's often a sign of another underlying heart problem.

Injury or damage to the heart muscle or blockage of a blood vessel in your heart can slow or block the electrical impulses that make your heart beat. Even though interference with the impulses may last for only a fraction of a second, that may be enough to cause bundle branch block. Bundle branch block sometimes makes it harder for your heart to pump blood forcefully and efficiently through your circulatory system.

Although bundle branch block itself often requires no direct treatment, you'll need treatment of any underlying health condition that could cause bundle branch block, such as coronary heart disease.

DS00693

March 13, 2008

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