What is an irregular heart beat?

PCH: Fibrillation An irregular heartbeat is an arrhythmia.

Heart rates can also be irregular.

A normal heart rate is 50 to 100 beats per minute.

Arrhythmias and abnormal heart rates don't necessarily occur together.

Arrhythmias can occur with a normal heart rate, or with heart rates that are slow (called bradyarrhythmias -- less than 60 beats per minute).

arrhythmias can also occur with rapid heart rates (called tachyarrhythmias -- faster than 100 beats per minute).

In the United States more than 850,000 people are hospitalized for an arrhythmia each year. An irregular heart rate [outside of the normal range (60-100 bpm)]is generally a condition which arises from physialogical changes. An irregular heart beat is a defect (mis-firing) of the electrical system of the heart.