Hello doctor, I have had heart palpitations for two weeks. 3 to 6 times a day. Feeling of one hard heatbeat. I bought a holter monitor and catched it today. Seeking advice.
Hello. This is an atrial ectopic or extra beat in other words. These occurs intermittently, so, ECG may be normal in between. These are not worrisome usually and most of the times without much significance. However, we need to rule out the possibility of structural heart disease before calling them benign. So, echo should be obtained to rule out possibility of structural heart disease. Also, thyroid problems can cause these, so thyroid profile should be obtained. Also, too much coffee, sleep deprivation, stress, alcohol and other addictions may cause those, so should be minimized, if any. If too frequent and symptomatic, then one can have beta-blockers medicine like Metoprolol which suppress these. Otherwise these settles with time.