The heart’s pumping action, or “heartbeat,” is directed by a complicated electrical system within the heart.
The natural pacemaker of the heart (the “sinus node”) normally generates an electrical signal that spreads through the heart muscle. These impulses coordinate the heart's rhythmic contractions, ensuring that it beats in a synchronized manner.
The sinus node is the only place in the heart that generates electricity, and it results in a regular heart rhythm at a normal rate.
However, in some patients, somewhere else in the heart muscle (outside the sinus node) acquires the ability to generate abnormal electrical signals or short circuit the heart’s electricity, which then disrupts the normal rhythm, causing too slow (bradycardia), too fast (tachycardia), or irregular heartbeats, known as “cardiac arrhythmias.”
