Cardiac arrhythmia: Taking a medical history
In clinical practice, the first step in diagnosing a patient with suspected arrhythmia is history taking.
The physician obtains the following pieces of information to help determine a diagnosis and guide further diagnostic testing:
- nature and mode of onset of symptoms and precipitating factors such as exercise and stress
- mode of termination of symptoms, frequency, duration, and severity of symptoms
- medication and dietary history
- presence of systemic illnesses and known heart disease
- family history of arrhythmia
Video Transcript
Cardiac arrhythmia: Taking a medical history - Animation
In clinical practice, the first step in diagnosing a patient with suspected arrhythmia is history taking. The physician obtains the following pieces of information to help determine a diagnosis and guide further diagnostic testing: nature and mode of onset of symptoms and precipitating factors such as exercise and stress, mode of termination of symptoms, frequency, duration, and severity of symptoms, medication and dietary history, presence of systemic illnesses and known heart disease, and family history of arrhythmia.
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