Insights
Functional heart complaints present as cardiac symptoms. Treatment focuses on subjective suffering and emotional processing when serious conditions are ruled out, with options ranging from watchful waiting to psychocardiological interventions.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Psychosomatic Medicine
Context:
- Functional heart complaints are common, presenting as cardiac symptoms like palpitations and dyspnea.
- Distinguishing these from prognostically significant conditions requires targeted diagnostics.
Purpose:
- To outline diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for functional heart complaints.
- To emphasize the role of subjective experience and emotional processing in treatment decisions.
Summary:
- Functional heart complaints necessitate excluding serious cardiac conditions through diagnostics.
- Treatment is indicated for subjective suffering, influenced by emotional processing.
- Therapeutic options include conservative management, addressing underlying conditions, and psychocardiological approaches.
Impact:
- Provides a framework for managing patients with functional heart complaints.
- Highlights the importance of a patient-centered approach considering psychological factors.
- Informs clinical practice regarding the selection of appropriate interventions.
Abstract:
Functional Heart Complaints Abstract. Functional complaints often manifest as cardiac symptoms (palpitations, thoracic complaints, reduced performance, dyspnea). Prognostically relevant clinical situations must be identified or excluded through targeted diagnostics. In the absence of prognostically relevant diseases action is wanted only in the case of subjective suffering, which is significantly influenced by the patient's emotional processing of the experience. Various therapy options can be used to treat functional heart complaints (do nothing/ignore symptoms, optimal treatment of any underlying diseases, phytotherapy, antiarrhythmic drugs, interventional therapy, physical training, psychocardiological treatment, resilience strengthening etc.).
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