Introduction
Palpitations present frequently in primary care, and are the second most common reason for a general practitioner (GP) to refer a patient to a cardiologist.1 Levels of distress and health concern are high in this patient group, even though most of these patients do not have demonstrable heart arrhythmias.2 Moreover, it is within this group with unexplained palpitations that psychiatric and psychological morbidity is highest.3,4 Given this background, we wondered how a patient with palpitations experienced the cardiology appointment, what effect it had on the perception of their cardiac symptoms, and whether this varied according
