Palpitation refers to an unpleasant sensation of the heartbeat, often a fast heart. During a palpitation, the heart might feel like it’s racing, fluttering, skipping a beat, or beating irregularly. You may feel as if the heart is coming out of the chest wall.

What is a Heart Palpitation?

Palpitation refers to an unpleasant sensation of the heartbeat, often a fast heart.

During a palpitation, the heart might feel like it’s racing, fluttering, skipping a beat, or beating irregularly. You may feel as if the heart is coming out of the chest wall.

What causes palpitation?

Often heart palpitation may be related to being frightened or under stress. Cold, allergy, and asthma medications, herbal supplements and other drugs, caffeine and alcohol can also cause heart palpitations.

Cardiac causes of palpitations include cardiomyopathies and cardiac arrhythmia. The most common cardiac arrhythmia in children is called ‘Supraventricular tachycardia’ – where an extra circuit within the heart sets up a very fast heartbeat that sustains for a period of time.

Heart palpitations could also be a sign of ‘orthostatic intolerance’ where the blood pools in the legs on standing. An increasing number of adolescents is being recognised to have this problem.

When to seek medical attention:

• Frequent palpitations lasting more than seconds
• Accompanied by dizziness, loss of consciousness (syncope)
• Associated chest pain, nausea or excessive sweating or shortness of breath
• During or following exercise
• Family history of sudden death (esp. <30), including driving accidents
• Previous cardiac surgery
• Previous Kawasaki disease

‍