Dr Lim was an invited speaker at the Heart Rhythm UK meeting in Birmingham from 5-8 October 2014 , at the Arrhythmia Alliance patient day. Dr Lim was invited to speak about palpitations and ectopic beats.
Dr Lim explained that palpitations are a patient’s description of an abnormal heartbeat, which may be skipped or extra heartbeats, or fast heartbeats. However, an ectopic beat is an extra heartbeat that arises from an abnormal site within the heart, which may or may not cause any symptoms of palpitations. To be certain, consider having an ECG and 24 hour ECG (Holter) monitor, which will allow full characterisation of the normal vs ectopic heartbeats.
For more information, see palpitations.