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Subject: Re: Ventricular Tachycardia I have a fifteen year old son who was diagnosed with Ventricular Tachycardia when he was ten years old. Initially, he was taken to his pediatrician for a medical checkup as he was sick to his stomach at school, and he also had asthma. She, at the time, noticed his heart was beating fast, but not dangerously so. She took blood to submit for lab test to check his Theophaline (sp?) levels. He was also known to use his inhaler more frequently than perhaps needed. This was on a Friday, by Monday evening he began vomitting continuously, and was taken to the emergency room. It was determined that his heart was enlarged, and was beating at and over 220 beats per minutes. He was transferred to Georgetown University Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Doctors there originally thought he had a cardio myopathy; after various tests, which included muscle tissue biopsy. He was finally diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia. He has been taking Calan 240mg once a day since his diagnosis. He responds well to this medication, and has only had one episode of tachycardia after he forgot to take a dosage. Outside of his asthma, which used to be somewhat severe until we found proper medications to maintain it, my son was in good condition. Doctors have not been able to give me a definitive answer has to what may have caused his condition. They believe he had some type of viral infection which may have damaged the heart causing it to go into tachycardia. Are you familiar with what are some of the known causes for tachycardia in someone so young. Further, do you believe that medicine, even though it is effective, should be used continuously for such a long period, are there any drawbacks to long term Calan use. His cardiologist has suggest ablation at one point, but has decided to hold off since he is responding so well to medication. Is ventricular tachycardia something my son may eventually outgrow. Echocardigrams (sp) have been positive. It appears his heart is healthy, and the damaged areas appear to be healing. About two years ago, after a positive Echo he was taken off his medication for approximately six months, during which time he did not go into abnormal heart rythym (sp). When I took him in to see his cardiologists to determine if it were possible for him to participate in physical activity at school, all tests seemed positive. He EKG was normal. During the period when the Echo was given and the time it took the doctor to look at it and return to the exam room, my son had gone into tachycardia. Previous episodes of tachycardia seemed to develop over time, leading to side effects which would indicate emergency treatment was necessary. The doctor now believed that he was going in and out of tachycardia with side effects presenting themselves since the duration was short. He was immediately but back on his medication and has been on it since that period. This was very frightening, realizing that he was going in and out of tachycardia with me even realizing it. Can you give me some indications what the long term prognosis is for my son. Will this be something he was suffer from forever? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your question. This is an interesting case and it sounds as if he has been receiving excellent care. There are no known side effects to long-term use of calan (generic verapamil - a calcium channel blocker). It is unlikely that he would "outgrow" this condition. However, it is possible that he would benefit from an ablation procedure and not require continued medication. I would recommend exploring this option further if you are concerned about long-term medication use. 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. 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 Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
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