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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffSick sinus syndrome is the name for a group of heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias) in which the sinus node — the heart's natural pacemaker — doesn't work properly.
The sinus node is an area of specialized cells in the upper right chamber of the heart that controls the rhythm of your heart. Normally, the sinus node produces a steady pace of regular electrical impulses. In sick sinus syndrome, these signals are abnormally paced. A person with sick sinus syndrome may have heart rhythms that are too fast, too slow, punctuated by long pauses — or an alternating combination of all of these rhythm problems.
Sick sinus syndrome is relatively uncommon. The condition is most likely to affect adults older than age 70. Many people with sick sinus syndrome eventually need a pacemaker to keep the heart in a regular rhythm.
- Sick sinus syndrome. Heart Rhythm Society. http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/heart_disorders/sick_sinus/default.asp. Accessed March 19, 2009.
- Ferri F. Sick sinus syndrome. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/127077711-3/819048192/1701/546.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04134-8..50022-7--cesec438_11555. Accessed March 19, 2009.
- Bradyarrhythmias. In: Libby P, et al, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&uniq=127077711#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50038-8--cesec163%3Bfrom%3Dindex%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-1-4160-4106-1. Accessed March 12, 2009.
- Arnsdorf MF. Manifestations and causes of the sick sinus syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 19, 2009.
- Dual-chamber pacemakers for symptomatic bradycardia due to sick sinus syndrome and/or atrioventricular block. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?ss=15&doc_id=8124&nbr=4526. Accessed March 19, 2009.
- What is a pacemaker? National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pace/pace_all.html. Accessed March 19, 2009.
- Arnsdorf MF. Treatment of the sick sinus syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 19, 2009.
