Pirouettes and palpitations: Ballet dancer's irregular heartbeat went undiagnosed for years

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即使是青少年, Edson Barbosa could sometimes feel his heart beating extremely fast during rehearsals. 这看起来不太正常. But as a competitive ballet dancer in Rio de Janeiro, he wasn't sure what normal felt like.

可能是因为我刚做了17个脚尖旋转，他对自己说.

心悸是短暂的，偶尔出现，所以他没有理会.

At age 19, Barbosa joined the Joffrey Ballet, a renowned dance company based in Chicago. 他从旧金山搬了过来, where he'd been attending the San Francisco Ballet School on a scholarship.

The next year, at the end of a strenuous performance, his heart raced more than ever. 他感到精疲力竭. 休息了几分钟后，一切都好了.

他把所发生的事告诉了母亲. 她催促他去看医生.

巴博萨意识到他的身体就是他的生计，于是他去做了身体检查.

医生没有发现任何问题.

A couple years later, Barbosa started a relationship with Michael Reid, a critical care nurse. 这些情节还在继续，里德敦促巴博萨跟踪这些情节.

巴博萨的笔记读起来像舞蹈节目. 22岁时，在《线上娱乐电子游戏网站》之后的三分钟剧集. 另一次是第二年《线上娱乐电子游戏网站》的大结局." A racing heart during "The Times are Racing" in February 2020, when Barbosa was 25.

而医生仍然没有发现潜在的问题, Barbosa learned that lying on the floor made the palpitations stop and helped restore his energy. 通过这种方式，他控制住了局面.

然后是COVID-19. Barbosa stopped performing, relaxed his exercise schedule and had no incidents.

2021年，一旦排练恢复，心悸又回来了. 频率越来越高.

那年三月，乔佛里芭蕾舞团(Joffrey Ballet)以数码作品的形式推出了《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》(Bolero). Because it was being recorded, Barbosa and other dancers could rest between numbers.

到了夏末，上课和排练又如火如荼地进行起来. 一天早上, 在barre练习和跳跃90分钟后, 巴博萨可以感觉到他的不规则心跳又回来了.

He did what he always did and what, by then, his fellow dancers were accustomed to. 他仰面躺着，深呼吸. 但这一次他比平时呆得更久.

“你还好吗?”?排练指导问. “我们需要做点什么吗??"

巴博萨说，他预计很快就会康复. 他不是. 一个小时后，他回家了. 他通常走路或坐火车. 巴博萨担心他会昏倒，于是叫人送他一程.

他回家的时候，里德也在. 他倾听着巴博萨的心声.

“这不正常，”他告诉他. "See if you can get an EKG now so they can finally see what's happening."

巴博萨很快就得到了预约, 但他不确定他要在候诊室等多久. He went into the restroom and did jumping jacks to keep his heart rate up. He eventually had all the electrodes attached to his chest for the EKG, 或心电图, the test that gives the zigzag-lined readout of the heart's electrical signals.

然后他被叫进了一个房间，一位医生正在看一份打印出来的文件.

"You need to go to the emergency room right now," he told Barbosa, handing him the EKG results. “拿着这个给他们看看."

The doctor told him he had AFib, or atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heartbeat. 如果不及时治疗, 它会导致血栓, 中风, 心力衰竭和其他心脏相关并发症.

在急诊室，医生让巴博萨留院过夜进行检查. 26岁时，这是他第一次住进医院.

Doctors planned to do a cardioversion, a procedure to reset the heart rhythm. But by the end of the next day, Barbosa's heartbeat returned to normal on its own. 他被送回家了.

During a follow-up exam, his cardiologist recommended a cardiac ablation. The procedure essentially zaps the spot inside the heart muscle causing the irregular heartbeats.

对巴博萨来说，这一切来得太迟了.

"I was more scared of my heart racing than I was of the procedure," Barbosa said.

不到一个星期，他就回到了舞蹈室.

从那以后，巴博萨再也没有发生过心房颤动. 他服用受体阻滞剂，并改变了一些生活方式, including changing to decaffeinated coffee and drinking very little alcohol.

He also makes use of several gadgets that Reid gave him – a phone app that provides an EKG, 一个血氧计来测量他的血氧水平, 还有一种肺活量计来帮助增加他的肺活量. 这些都有助于减轻他的焦虑.

“埃德森不仅身体状况很好, 他有一种许多年轻人所没有的毅力,里德说. "When you have a racing heart onstage in front of 5,000 people, it's a big deal.“巴博萨和里德不再是情侣，但仍然很亲密.

巴博萨开玩笑说，他有点像个疑病症患者, 但他最欣赏的是人们健康意识的提高.

"I've always been connected to my muscles and joints," he said, "and now I'm connected to my heart."

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