About the Palpitation Road Maps

The Palpitation Roadmaps will begin from the same starting point. There will be four destinations (probable causes) which will be known by you at the beginning of the journey.

The routes have been arbitrarily determined by the expert who begins by quickly providing background information from the past history, social history, and family history. The terrain through which you then travel is also arbitrary. It includes: timing, setting, event onset, event recover, and other symptoms.

Displayed are the four palpitation roadmaps in a single composite. Most patients seen in primary care practice for palpitation will have one of these four disorders: 1. Panic, 2. Premature beats, 3. SVT, and 4. A Fib. Similarities and differences are represented graphically.

The patient's background, as previously emphasized, is again the logical starting point. Notice that all three faculty experts used the same sequence of questioning beginning with the timing of the events. This sequence is exactly the same as for syncope except that the last thing covered is associated symptoms instead of other spells.

Again, modify this approach as you see fit, but be sure to include all six elements:

• BACKGROUND
• TIMING
• SETTING
• ONSET
• RECOVERY
• ASSOCIATED SYMPTOMS