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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is It Possible For Your Heart To Skip A Beat ?

Is it ACTUALLY POSSIBLE; for your heart to skip a beat? Because sometimes I think mine does, when someone scares me, or if someone is threatening me, or if I see the person I have a crush on/love. etc. is it actually possible? or is this something else? Actually; @ :) thats true. my heart does beat faster at those moments. but i SWEAR it skips a beat when I m on a rollercoaster or something like that.
Fri, 26 Feb 2010
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  User's Response
's  Response
Yes it is possible for the heart to stop for a second or few seconds and this is referred to as a sinoatrial pause. In order for it to be technically a sinoatrial pause there must be a delay of at least 2 seconds to minutes. Sinoatrial pauses occur because of abnormalities in the primary pacemaker of the heart, the Sinoatrial (SA) node. Sinoatrial pauses usually occur in elderly individuals due to the wear down of the special cardiac cells in the SA node. I do not think this is the cause of your symptoms though. Your symptoms are probably related to premature atrial or ventricular contractions. These are completely normal if the occur less than 6 times in a minute. When there is a premature beat the beat following the premature beat will be delayed and a stronger contraction. This can give the sensation of missed heart beat or a palpitation. Premature beats are more frequent when there is a release of epinephrine (adrenaline), which occurs when you are riding a rollercoaster. Premature beats can also be increased by caffeine. Premature beats usually require no treatment and have no long term consequences. If symptoms are very frequent and disabling, then beta blockers can be used to control the symptoms. Rarely, similar symptoms can be produced by an underlying heart arrhythmia. So if your symptoms are frequent and concerning, see your doctor. Your doctor may want to check an EKG and place you on a heart monitor for 24 hours. Good luck. Also, a heart murmur is just a sound a doctor hears when listening to your heart. It can be benign or secondary to serious cardiac condition. The symptoms you are describing are not consistent with a heart murmur from a serious underlying cardiac condition. Benign murmurs produce no symptoms and require no treatment.
  User's Response
Sheila Bergeron's  Response

My son often complains of his heart skipping beats He says that it does not happen all of the time.  He is 18, and is in great physical shape. He exercises everyday running, weight lifting etc,. and he is far from being overweight. We have taken him to a cardiologist, he has worn a heart monitor, and has complete blood work done.  Should we still be concerned about this ? Is it common? This problem has never stopped him to participate in sports. Help me to be able to tell him somethingto put his mind at ease .     Thank you,concerned mom
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Is It Possible For Your Heart To Skip A Beat ?

Yes it is possible for the heart to stop for a second or few seconds and this is referred to as a sinoatrial pause. In order for it to be technically a sinoatrial pause there must be a delay of at least 2 seconds to minutes. Sinoatrial pauses occur because of abnormalities in the primary pacemaker of the heart, the Sinoatrial (SA) node. Sinoatrial pauses usually occur in elderly individuals due to the wear down of the special cardiac cells in the SA node. I do not think this is the cause of your symptoms though. Your symptoms are probably related to premature atrial or ventricular contractions. These are completely normal if the occur less than 6 times in a minute. When there is a premature beat the beat following the premature beat will be delayed and a stronger contraction. This can give the sensation of missed heart beat or a palpitation. Premature beats are more frequent when there is a release of epinephrine (adrenaline), which occurs when you are riding a rollercoaster. Premature beats can also be increased by caffeine. Premature beats usually require no treatment and have no long term consequences. If symptoms are very frequent and disabling, then beta blockers can be used to control the symptoms. Rarely, similar symptoms can be produced by an underlying heart arrhythmia. So if your symptoms are frequent and concerning, see your doctor. Your doctor may want to check an EKG and place you on a heart monitor for 24 hours. Good luck. Also, a heart murmur is just a sound a doctor hears when listening to your heart. It can be benign or secondary to serious cardiac condition. The symptoms you are describing are not consistent with a heart murmur from a serious underlying cardiac condition. Benign murmurs produce no symptoms and require no treatment.