Introduction: Cardiac arrhythmias, irregularities in the rhythm of the heart, are a serious health problem that can directly affect heart function and lead to heart failure. Timely detection and treatment of arrhythmias is important to reduce the risk of developing more serious conditions such as heart failure. The incidence of arrhythmias in the world is increasing, while atrial fibrillation is the most common. The long-term duration of this arrhythmia leads to a weakening of cardiac function, damage to the heart muscle, and eventually heart failure. Heart failure can be described as a clinical syndrome characterized by well-known symptoms and physical signs, but sometimes the patient has no symptoms present and the disease is accidentally detected during systematic examinations. (1,2)
Case report: This paper presents a case of a 52-year-old patient who was admitted to hospitalization due to newly observed atrial fibrillation in the ECG detected during a systematic examination. Upon admission to the Department of Cardiology, further processing begins. An ultrasound of the heart is performed, where dilated cardiomyopathy with severely reduced systolic function of the left ventricle is determined, and coronary angiography is performed, which excludes coronary heart disease. During the stay in the hospital, paroxysms of non-permanent ventricular tachycardia during sleep were recorded on the telemetry record. From laboratory findings, it is important to single out a mild liver lesion and an elevated value of markers of heart failure. The patient was indicated for implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation as the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death since there were more cases in the family. After a few days, the patient is discharged home with the recommendation of regular check-ups in the heart failure clinic.
Conclusion: Early detection of arrhythmias allows the application of appropriate therapies that can significantly reduce the risk of heart failure and other complications. Without timely intervention, arrhythmias can progressively damage the heart, increasing the chances of permanent damage, so education and awareness of recognizing symptoms, maintaining healthy lifestyle habits, regular therapy and regular check-ups with cardiologists is crucial, which can greatly improve the quality of life of patients.