Atrioventricular blockade - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.

Atrioventricular blockade of is one of the most serious violations of cardiac conduction, accompanied by a sharp slowdown in heart rhythm and, as a result, loss of consciousness and heart failure. According to statistics, in 17% of cases the cause of sudden cardiac death is the AV blockade of .

Atrioventricular blockade - is a violation of the "throughput" of the AV node - which is the "connecting link" between the myocardium of the atria and ventricles. With AB-blockade of the 1st degree, the impulse through the AV-unit slows down, at the 2nd - only every second or third pulse coming from the sinus node is carried out to the ventricles, at the 3rd degree( complete transverse blockade) - pulses fromthe atria to the ventricles completely cease. At the same time, cardiac arrest does not occur, because, as the main "power station", a bundle of His or other structures of the conduction system of the heart enters the case. This is accompanied by a rare heart rhythm, approximately 20-40 beats per minute.

Symptoms of atrioventricular blockade of

In this type of disturbance of conduction of the heart is usually disturbed:

• general weakness;
• dizziness;
• shortness of breath;
• fast fatigue.

With severe bradycardia,

• episodes of darkening in the eyes appear;
• state, close to the loss of consciousness( "I want to grab for something, so as not to fall").

WARNING!The extreme manifestations of bradycardia are short-term attacks of loss of consciousness( seconds) - "walked-went - came to the senses lying on the floor."This may be preceded by a feeling of "hot flush in the head".

Note. A prolonged loss of consciousness( 5-10 minutes or more) is not typical for bradycardia.

Prevention of atrioventricular blockade of

Blockade of the heart is the complication of the underlying disease, usually coronary heart disease. Therefore, prevention consists in adequate and timely treatment of this disease, as well as an attentive use of drugs that slow the conduct of impulses along the AV node. These drugs are the following groups: adrenoblockers( Atenolol, Egilok, Concor, Nebilet), calcium antagonists( Verapamil, Diltiazem), cardiac glycosides( Digoxin, Lanicor), antiarrhythmics( Cordarone, Sotalex).

Secondary prophylaxis( when a specific type of arrhythmia is established) with AV blockade is not performed.

Diagnosis of atrioventricular blockade of

The primary diagnosis can be the presence of clinical manifestations of cardiocardia.

The next step is to register the electrocardiogram.

Often there is a need for a round-the-clock recording of an electrocardiogram( Holter monitoring) in the usual mode of the patient's life. It is possible that during the 24-hour monitoring, the arrhythmia will also not be recorded.

In this case a tilt test is performed.

Treatment of atrioventricular blockade of

The only method of treatment for atrioventricular blockades is the implantation of a permanent pacemaker. This device restores the normal heart rate. At the same time, the volume of blood coming to the organs is normalized, and the symptoms of bradycardia are eliminated.

The main indications for the implantation of a permanent pacemaker with atrioventricular blockade are:

• the presence of clinical manifestations of bradycardia( dyspnea, dizziness, fainting).
• pauses in the heart for more than 3 seconds or a recorded heart rate of less than 40 per minute.

For a better understanding of the A-in blockade of the 3rd degree( full), we use the term uncoupling of the rhythm between the atria and ventricles.