2. Palpitation
The second usual complaint is palpitation, which is a subjective feeling of someone’s own heartbeats. This is related to the compensatory increase of heart rate, i.e. tachycardia by the body. It is a physiological compensatory attempt by the heart to overcome the obstruction and increase blood flow to the ischemic lung segment by increasing the heart rate. This tachycardia causes chest discomfort that makes the patient anxious and restless. It is essential to know that palpitation may be due to associated arrhythmia that is usually of Supraventricular source, as in atrial fibrillation or flutter which results from excited foci in the atrial tissues in response to hypoxia or stretch from backpressure.
