What are the dangers of long-term tachycardia

Tachycardia is a health problem that many people have. Of course, this problem should be relieved in time or go to the hospital for examination and treatment, because if the problem of tachycardia exists for a long time, it may endanger the patient's life, or cause common health problems such as pulmonary edema, heart function impairment, and heart failure. Here we will introduce to you the dangers of long-term tachycardia!

1. Life-threatening

When an electrical signal enters such a pathway, it travels along the circuit, and the ventricles contract once with each circuit, resulting in a rapid heart rate. Ventricular tachycardia is a more serious arrhythmia with a high mortality rate. It usually cannot terminate on its own. During an attack, the heart rate can reach 160 to 220 beats per minute. If the attack lasts for a long time, symptoms such as low blood pressure, dizziness, palpitations, difficulty breathing, and angina pectoris may occur. Sometimes it can even deteriorate into ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest, leading to death.

2. Cause pulmonary edema

Tachycardia may cause pulmonary edema, which is mostly due to the dysfunction of fluid exchange between blood vessels and tissues in the lungs, resulting in increased water content in the lungs. The main clinical manifestations are extreme dyspnea, orthopnea, cyanosis, profuse sweating, paroxysmal cough with large amounts of white or pink foamy sputum.

3. Causes heart function impairment

Tachycardia can lead to decreased heart function and a significant decrease in cardiac output, causing a severe syndrome of acute peripheral circulatory failure, also known as cardiogenic shock. The main clinical manifestations are severe underlying heart disease symptoms and systemic circulatory failure symptoms such as persistent hypotension, oliguria, impaired consciousness, and peripheral cyanosis.

4. Cause heart failure

Tachycardia can also cause heart failure. Clinically, heart failure can be divided into left heart failure and right heart failure. The main manifestations of left heart failure are fatigue and dyspnea. In the late stage, it may develop into dyspnea at rest, and the patient can only breathe while sitting up. Paroxysmal dyspnea is a typical manifestation of left heart failure, and it often occurs during deep sleep. There are chest tightness, shortness of breath, cough, and wheezing. Especially severe cases can develop into acute pulmonary edema and manifest as severe asthma. The most important manifestations of right heart failure are lower limb edema and distended neck veins. It may also be accompanied by loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, oliguria, nocturia, and separation of drinking and urination.