An irregular heartbeat is an arrhythmia (also called dysrhythmia). Heart rates can also be irregular. A normal heart rate is 50 to 100 beats per minute. Arrhythmias and abnormal heart rates don’t necessarily occur together. Arrhythmias can occur with a normal heart rate, or with heart rates that are slow (called bradyarrhythmias — less than 60 beats per minute). arrhythmias can also occur with rapid heart rates (called tachyarrhythmias — faster than 100 beats per minute). In the United States more than 850,000 people are hospitalized for an arrhythmia each year.
Tags: arrhythmia, dysrhythmia