Frederick's syndrome is called a fairly serious deviation in the work of the heart, first diagnosed by a physiologist from Belgium Leon Frederick in 1904. And although few have heard about this disease, it is quite common.
Previously, the use of anticholinergic drugs was actively practiced in treating the Frederick phenomenon, but since they can cause mental abnormalities, modern medicine is gradually abandoning them.
Syndrome Description
Frederick's syndrome is a combination of signs that are characteristic of complete transverse blockade and atrial fibrillation.
With this deviation, electrical signals completely stop entering the ventricles from the atria, which lose the ability to regularly and orderly contract.
The absence of exciting pulses causes the formation of foci in the walls or the lower part of the atrioventricular node of the ventricular ventricles, which independently begin to generate electrical signals. This becomes a kind of compensation, but it does not save the situation, since the frequency of the pulses is insufficient (a maximum of forty-sixty signals).
As a result, the ventricles of the heart contract more slowly than in a healthy person, which means that blood flow slows down, which causes oxygen starvation and is the main danger of the disease called Frederick’s syndrome.
Main symptoms
Among the main symptoms of Frederick's syndrome (or phenomenon) are:
- Smooth but slow pulse.
- Dizziness.
- Weakness.
- Shortness of breath.
- Fatigue
- Drowsiness.
- Fainting.
All this is characteristic of a state where the brain does not receive enough oxygen.
Causes of the syndrome
Frederick's syndrome does not occur from scratch if the heart is healthy. It is a consequence, a side effect of such serious diseases as:
- Myocardial infarction.
- Heart defects.
- Postinfarction cardiosclerosis.
- Myocarditis.
- Cardiomyopathy
- Angina pectoris.
These diseases cause processes of a sclerotic nature, in which connective tissue grows in the heart. The latter displaces and replaces cells, which are precisely responsible for the generation and transmission of electrical impulses.
Diagnosis of the Frederick phenomenon
Since the symptoms of this disease are similar to the manifestations of many other ailments, Frederic's syndrome can be diagnosed only using the electrocardiogram method.
Moreover, it is advisable to observe the behavior of the heart during the day to see what rhythm happens at different times of the day or night, to see how the heart muscle responds to stress, and so on.
Typically, with a diagnosis of Frederic’s syndrome, the ECG is as follows:
- P waves are absent, they are replaced by waves of flickering or trembling nature (f and F).
- The ventricular rhythm is regular, but the number of contractions per minute does not exceed 40-60 times.
- When rhythm is formed in the lower part of the atrioventricular junction, the ventricular complexes are narrow and have the usual, without deviations, morphology.
- If the rhythm forms in the walls, the ventricular complexes look dilated and deformed.
Frederick's syndrome: treatment and prevention
If you identify the symptoms described above, be sure to consult a doctor and undergo an examination. Oxygen starvation is a dangerous condition that can cause serious abnormalities in the brain. And with Frederick's syndrome, it can last up to five to seven seconds, when the heart actually stops (this happens in cases where there is no compensation of impulses in the form of ventricular rhythm).
Timely diagnosis will minimize risks, and treatment will help get rid of the disease and live a full life. The prognosis of the disease is favorable.
Today, Frederick's syndrome is eliminated, as a rule, by implantation in the heart muscle of an implant that produces impulses instead of the atria. The electrode is inserted into the ventricle, and its rhythm is programmed in advance and depends on the age and general condition of the patient.
Prevention as such does not exist. It consists in the prevention and competent treatment of diseases that cause this phenomenon.