Question Title: Echocardiogram and IHSS

I'm a 22 yr old male. I've experienced irregular hearbeats for a few years. I had an echocardiogram 7 years ago...before I can remember really being bothered by my premature beats. (A sports and medicine group sponsored free echo's and ekg's for a study)
When I began noticing the irregular beats I went to an cardiologist/arrythmia specialist who did note I had an echogram and then he gave me an event recorder. I was later diagnosed with PAC's.

Recently and eight years later, I've been very bothered by these palpitations. I've seen a different arrythmia specialist who again gave me another event recorder. He diagnosed me with pvc's and pac's. I had some sinus tachycardia also and he thought I was suffering from anxiety attacks. I have since been given Zoloft. My premature contractions occur everyday, and up to over 100 a day.

My questions are:
1) My grandmother had IHSS and died because of complications of it. I know this is passed on through a gene. Is this disease congenital? Would the echo gram 7 years ago have picked this up? Or a routine EKG? Or, could I have developed IHSS and need another echo gram to diagnose it?

2)Could the zoloft be contributing to the frequency of the pvc's and pac's?
3) Should I go back to the cardiologist for a 24/hr holter so he is aware of the frequency of these things?

My cardiologist and regular doc who is in internal medicine aren't concerned. Most of my concern is based on my family history of this IHSS and a fear of it not being pickup up through a stethescope, and ekg's , and its development since my echo gram 7 years ago.

Thanks for your help,
Ben

Dear Ben, thank you for your question. I'll answer your questions in turn.

1) IHSS can be genetically transmitted but this should have been picked up on the echocardiograms that you've had done. However, IHSS can become manifest later in life, so an echo 7 years ago doesn't necessarily exclude this diagnosis in you at the present time. Sometimes, there are ECG abnormalities with IHSS, but an echo is a much better test to detect this disorder. I can't predict whether you have IHSS at this point; only your own physician can do that.
2) Zoloft is not known to cause premature beats, but the only way to tell is to stop taking this medication and see what happens. Do not stop taking Zoloft, however, without speaking with your physician first.
3) You will have to decide what to do at this point. Most likely, you do not have IHSS. If this is true, then your premature beats are not harmful and are only a nuisance.

I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions. Good luck!

If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart
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