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Questions posted in the
Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: PVC's after ablationForum: The Heart Forum
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In December of 1997 I had an ablation to my atrio sinus node for inappropriate sinus tachycardia. Actually since then,I have found out that the tachycardia I was experiencing was due to an autonomic disorder called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia. Since the ablation I have been experiencing many many PVC's that are very disturbing to me. I did not experience any PVC's before the ablation, so I am assuming that this has to be due to what was done to my atrio sino node. Is this a correct assumption? If so, how is this treated? Would a pacemaker help with this problem?
________- Dear Dorothy, PVC's originate from the lower chambers, or ventricles of the heart, and not the upper chambers, or atria. As such, it is unlikely that the procedure to your SA node should be related to the PVC's. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia and other disorders of autonomic tone might be a cause for the PVC's, due to the occasional imbalance of catecholamines (adrenaline-like hormones). Pacemakers only help with PVC's if the PVC's are related to excessively slow heart rates. In this setting, a pacemaker might speed up the heart rate and insert a normal beat before the PVC would discharge. PVC's are difficult to treat or cure. Numerous medications have been proposed as therapy, usually with poor or harmful results. In fact, we know that PVC's are benign in the absence of structural heart disease (which would likely include your particular case). I recommend that you discuss this problem with an experienced electrophysiologist/cardiologist for further recommendations. Best of luck. Information in the Heart Forum is for general purposes. Specific diagnoses and therapies can only be provided by your physician.
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