title: Palpitations.
abstract: Palpitations are an unpleasant awareness of beating of the heart. By definition, the condition does not always imply 'racing' of the heart but encompasses any sensation in the chest such as 'pounding', 'flopping', 'skipping', 'jumping', 'thumping' or 'fluttering' of the heart. The problem requires careful attention and reassurance because heart beat is regarded as synonymous with life. To the practitioner it may simply represent anxiety or could be a prelude to a cardiac arrest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Box Hill Hospital, Monash University, Melbourne.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murtagh
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans