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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffUnless your heart palpitations are a sign of an underlying heart condition, there's little risk of complications.
If your palpitations are a sign of an underlying heart condition, possible complications include:
- Fainting. If your heart beats very quickly, your blood pressure may drop, causing you to faint. This may be more likely if you have a heart problem, such as congenital heart disease or certain valve problems.
- Cardiac arrest. Rarely, palpitations can be caused by life-threatening arrhythmias and can cause your heart to stop beating effectively (cardiac arrest).
- Stroke. If palpitations worsen so that your heart quivers instead of beating properly, it can cause blood to pool. This can cause blood clots to form. If a clot breaks loose, it can travel to and obstruct a brain artery, causing a stroke. This may damage a portion of your brain or lead to death.
- Heart failure. This can result if your heart is pumping ineffectively for a prolonged period due to an arrhythmia that's causing your palpitations, such as atrial fibrillation. Sometimes, controlling the rate of an arrhythmia that's causing heart failure can improve your heart's function.
References
- Zimetbaum PJ. Overview of palpitations in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.
- Palpitations. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hpl/hpl_all.html. Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.
- Khamis RY, et al. Palpitations. Medicine. 2009;37:100.
- Abbott AV. Diagnostic approach to palpitations. American Family Physician. 2005;743.
- Thompson J. Psychological and physical etiologies of heart palpitations. Holistic Nursing Practice. 2006;20:107.
