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Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners

Palpitations are a common, non-specific presenting complaint in primary healthcare and emergency departments. Palpitations are mostly a symptom of benign underlying disease but a sign of life-threatening conditions. Importantly, palpitations are a symptom and not a diagnosis, and cardiac causes are...

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Autores principales: Govender, Indiran, Nashed, Kamelia K., Rangiah, Selvandran, Okeke, Sunday, Maphasha, Olga M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AOSIS 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8905373/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35261258
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/safp.v64i1.5449
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author Govender, Indiran
Nashed, Kamelia K.
Rangiah, Selvandran
Okeke, Sunday
Maphasha, Olga M.
author_facet Govender, Indiran
Nashed, Kamelia K.
Rangiah, Selvandran
Okeke, Sunday
Maphasha, Olga M.
author_sort Govender, Indiran
collection PubMed
description Palpitations are a common, non-specific presenting complaint in primary healthcare and emergency departments. Palpitations are mostly a symptom of benign underlying disease but a sign of life-threatening conditions. Importantly, palpitations are a symptom and not a diagnosis, and cardiac causes are the most concerning aetiology. Clinicians should seek to identify the underlying cause. History and physical examination are important in the assessment of patients with palpitations, and the use of a 12-lead electrographic (ECG) monitor on presentation is the gold standard of diagnosis. If the aetiology cannot be determined, an ambulatory Holter 24–48-h monitor can be used. Treatment and follow-up of patients presenting with palpitations as the main complaint will depend on the aetiology and investigation findings. Patients with palpitations accompanied by dizziness, excessive fatigue, or chest pains should receive adequate acute care aiming to stabilise their condition before referring to a higher level of care.
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spelling pubmed-89053732022-03-10 Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners Govender, Indiran Nashed, Kamelia K. Rangiah, Selvandran Okeke, Sunday Maphasha, Olga M. S Afr Fam Pract (2004) CPD Article Palpitations are a common, non-specific presenting complaint in primary healthcare and emergency departments. Palpitations are mostly a symptom of benign underlying disease but a sign of life-threatening conditions. Importantly, palpitations are a symptom and not a diagnosis, and cardiac causes are the most concerning aetiology. Clinicians should seek to identify the underlying cause. History and physical examination are important in the assessment of patients with palpitations, and the use of a 12-lead electrographic (ECG) monitor on presentation is the gold standard of diagnosis. If the aetiology cannot be determined, an ambulatory Holter 24–48-h monitor can be used. Treatment and follow-up of patients presenting with palpitations as the main complaint will depend on the aetiology and investigation findings. Patients with palpitations accompanied by dizziness, excessive fatigue, or chest pains should receive adequate acute care aiming to stabilise their condition before referring to a higher level of care. AOSIS 2022-02-24 /pmc/articles/PMC8905373/ /pubmed/35261258 http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/safp.v64i1.5449 Text en © 2022. The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
spellingShingle CPD Article
Govender, Indiran
Nashed, Kamelia K.
Rangiah, Selvandran
Okeke, Sunday
Maphasha, Olga M.
Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
title Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
title_full Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
title_fullStr Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
title_full_unstemmed Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
title_short Palpitations: Evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
title_sort palpitations: evaluation and management by primary care practitioners
topic CPD Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8905373/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35261258
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/safp.v64i1.5449
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