Heart Health
What is long QT syndrome?
Ask the doctor
In long QT syndrome, these tiny pores don't work correctly. As a result, the heart muscle takes longer than normal to recharge between beats. The resulting delay can disrupt the heart's carefully choreographed timing. Most of the time, the heart compensates and continues to beat normally. But sometimes — perhaps because of physical or emotional stress — the delay pushes the heart into a fast, erratic heartbeat that may cause shortness of breath, fainting, and sometimes, sudden death.
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