Ripple : Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

• The Reasons
• Diagnostics
• Treatment

Pulsation can be felt in the temples, vessels of the neck, epigastric region, chest. At the same time, patients feel rhythmic pulse shocks to the beat of the heart in the head, chest, and abdomen. The symptom is most often a sign of cardiovascular pathology. Diagnosis includes electrocardiography, echocardiography, vascular ultrasound, angiography. Therapeutic tactics are selected taking into account the cause of the pulsation, may include drug therapy, surgical treatment using endovascular and open methods.

The reasons

Short-term, transient throbbing can be caused by being in an inclined position, intense physical training, overheating, drinking coffee, alcohol, or spicy foods. If a symptom is constantly present or recurs regularly, regardless of provoking factors, this is a reason for an in-depth medical examination. Possible localizations of pulsation and their causes:

• Pulsation in the temples. More often occurs with lesions of cerebral vessels: atherosclerosis, chronic cerebral ischemia, arterial hypertension, vegetative-vascular dystonia. Other causes may be migraines, increased ICP, poisoning, anxiety disorders.
• Pulsation of the vessels of the neck. Pulsation of the carotid arteries ("dance of the carotid") is characteristic of aortic valve insufficiency, aortic aneurysm. Swelling and pulsation of the cervical veins occurs with the syndrome of the superior vena cava, tricuspid valve insufficiency, impaired outflow of blood from the right atrium.
• Pulsation in abdomen. It can be felt in the epigastrium, above the navel, to the right or left of the midline of the abdomen. Pulsation in the epigastric region occurs with extrasystole, dilatation or hypertrophy of the right ventricle, in the umbilical region - during pregnancy, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and intestinal diseases.
• Pulsation in the chest. An increased pulse beat in the 2nd intercostal space to the right of the sternum is noted with an aneurysm of the ascending aorta, to the left of the sternum - with pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular aneurysm. Increased pulsation in the jugular fossa occurs with arterial hypertension, aortic valve insufficiency, aneurysm of the aortic arch.

Diagnostics

With pulsation of blood vessels in the head and neck, a consultation with a neurologist is required, in the chest area - a cardiologist and a cardiac surgeon, in the abdomen - a gastroenterologist or vascular surgeon. In order to exclude the possible listed diseases, it is necessary to undergo a thorough diagnosis using ultrasound, x-ray, electrophysiological methods.

Treatment

After establishing the diagnosis, it may be necessary to conduct conservative therapy with the use of antihypertensives, diuretics, anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, nootropics. In the case of surgical pathology, surgical interventions are performed: aneurysm resection, valve prosthetics, angioplasty, etc. Expectant tactics and self-treatment in case of vascular pulsation are extremely dangerous.