Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
exercise induced idiopathic pulmonary artery hypertension
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests
exercise induced idiopathic pulmonary artery hypertension
by Bluetiger, Jul 29, 2007 12:00AM
I live in Australia,I am 39 years old. I was diagnosed five years ago with complete heart block and received a dual pacemaker. Around six months ago I began suffering terrible fatigue, breathlessness, and pounding heart with little to no exersion. I had a stress test done which uncovered post exercise pulmonary artery hypertension. 22-37 mmhg at rest and elevated to 58>mmhg post exercise,the conclusion, significant post exercise pulmonary artery hypertension.A lung function test showed my DLCO ml/min/mmhg at 16.7, significantly impaired. I have quite obvious cynosis and coldness of my hands, sometimes my feet and face. They fiddled with my pacemaker and concluded after a further stress test (without stress echo), that it was not IPAH?? even though post exercise IPAH was apparent. This was four months ago, and I am still suffering from bouts of breathlessness everyday, sometimes without exersion, especially in the mornings. The symptoms have not altered since the pacemaker readjustment, and I am currently not receiving any medical treatment or tests for any further investigation for IPAH, and I am worried that this disease may be progressing without anyone knowing, or seeming to care.I have been taking 100 mg of metoprolol twice daily for about three years now, for an underlying atrial arrhythmia.Is my concern warranted?? Should I be pushing for further tests?? I hope you can assist me with some advice.
Kind Regards, Bluetiger
Kind Regards, Bluetiger
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-M.D.-ppb, Jul 30, 2007 12:00AM
Absolutely. There are enough concerning signs from your description that your condition must be figured out. I, as well, am concerned that it may be progressive in nature. You should definitely see an experienced cardiologist who can help you figure things out. The cyanosis is quite concerning and if true typically points to a shunt in the heart or the lungs. The low DLCO points to the lung as a possible cause. Someone experienced should review your echocardiogram to look for evidence of enlarged heart chambers, infiltrated heart muscle or valvular disease. Those must be ruled out. It is also concerning to me that you have had a pacemaker since the age of 34. What was the explanation given to you as to why you had complete heart block. Did they do a thorough workup looking for conditions such as sarcoidosis, scleroderma, dermatomyositis, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. These conditions affect the lung and the heart. Also, atrial arrhythmias can cause transient sinus node arrest which might look like complete heart block and lead to pacemaker placement. I am not sure that that's what happened to you. The fact that you are having arrhythmias lets me know that this condition has been going on for quite some time. A CT scan of the lung would be helpful as well. Again, I encourage you heavily to seek a second opinion and/or further tests to figure out what is going on.
I forgot to say in my post that I am female. (sorry) Thank you for replying so quickly. In answer to your questions, no there was no 'reasons' that they could tell me that I had complete heartblock. And there was no further tests done reguarding scleroderma arthritis etc. The only other issues I have had is a loose dianosis of fibromyalgia, with severe carpel tunnel which came on very rapidly, and was relieved with surgery to both wrists.if this is a progressive IPAH, would the calcium blockers I am taking be helping with the severity??