Torsade de pointes

Nearly 50% of patients with torsade de pointes don’t have any symptoms. Symptoms may be:

Palpitations
Shortness of breath
Dizziness
Lightheadedness
Fainting or near-fainting
Hypotension
Sudden cardiac arrest
Visit a Cardiologist for proper diagnosis and treatment if you have any of these symptoms

Being born with congenital heart disease due to specific genetic mutations (Long QT syndrome).



Certain medications such as:



Antiarrhythmic



Antibiotics



Antifungals



Antihistamines



Anticancer agents



Antidepressants



Antiemetics



Diuretics



Risk factors:



Old age (>65 years)



Female gender



History of heart attack



Hypokalemia



Hypocalcemia



Hypomagnesemia



Having a slow heart rate

Electrocardiogram (a simple test to examine the rhythm and electrical activity of the heart using skin-attached sensors to detect the electrical signals produced by the heart during each beat).

The cause should be treated first such as correcting hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, or hypocalcemia and stopping the offending drug if exists.



Treatment options:

Medications: Intravenous medications Magnesium sulfate is the main used medication however Isoproterenol may be needed in some cases.
Cardioversion: A procedure in which patches on the chest are used to give the heart an electric shock to restore normal heartbeat rhythm.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator: A small device implanted under the skin to give an electric shock to return to the normal rhythm of heartbeats if the heart rhythm was disturbed.
Cardiac pacemaker: A small device implanted in the chest to control the heartbeats.