Which physiological condition could result from an increased heart rate?

Increased heart rate, also known as tachycardia, primarily affects the heart's ability to pump blood efficiently and can lead to an increased cardiac output, which is the volume of blood the heart ejects per minute. When the heart beats faster, it has the potential to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to the body tissues, assuming the heart is functioning properly and the stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat) does not decrease.

This relationship between heart rate and cardiac output is vital; under normal physiological conditions, an increased heart rate can be a compensatory mechanism to meet the body’s increased demand for blood during situations such as exercise or stress. Therefore, if the heart rate increases appropriately, it can lead to higher cardiac output sufficient enough to fulfill bodily needs.

In contrast, conditions like heart block and cardiac arrest result in abnormal heart rhythms or ineffective pumping, while cardioversion is a procedure to restore a normal rhythm rather than a direct result of an increased heart rate.