[1] Some patients describe this experience as a "flip" or a "jolt" in the chest, or a "heart hiccup", while others report dropped or missed beats.

Ectopic beats are more common during periods of psychological stress, exercise[2] or debility; they may also be triggered by consumption of some food like carbohydrates, strong cheese, or chocolate.

[citation needed] It is a form of cardiac arrhythmia in which ectopic foci within either ventricular or atrial myocardium, or from finer branches of the electric transduction system, cause additional beats of the heart.

Ectopic beats often remain undetected and occur as part of minor errors in the heart conduction system.

The consumption of nicotine, alcohol, epinephrine and caffeine may also increase the incidence of ectopic beats, due to their influence on the action of cardiomyocytes.