Answer:
Option C, tachycardia
Explanation:
Tachycardia, also known as an elevated or fast heart rate typically above 100 beats per minute, can lead to heart failure and inadequate oxygenation of the brain.
During normal sinus rhythm where the heart pumps around usually 60-100 beats per minute, the blood in the peripheral and pulmonary tissues have sufficient time to perform their respective gas exchanges where oxygen perfuses into these tissues and carbon dioxide is perfused out and eliminated during exhalation. Blood supply to the brain and the heart muscles itself are ensured.
However during tachycardia, the blood is pumping through the vasculature so quickly that this gas exchange cannot take place as efficiently, and the two organs that suffer most if this condition is prolonged: the heart and brain. During this state, the patient may feel like their heart is going to jump out of their chest (palpitations), they may be anxious, they might have rapid pulses one can feel in their wrists, their rate of breathing may increase, they may feel short of breath, and more.
In certain cases, it can lead to heart failure (HF), a condition in which some disorder of the heart impairs its ability to fill the ventricles and pump blood.
Treatment of tachycardia involves treating its underlying condition, because likely it is a symptom rather than a disease process in and of itself. Without treatment, the patient can develop oxygen insufficiency within their brain and HF.
