Ablation of the Bundle of Hiss

[DEP]

My dad is 82, & had an Ablation 4 years ago, he is now pacemaker dependent & has it checked regulary. He recently went into hospital because of breathlessness. All his test were fine, he had them ALL. Since coming home from hospital he has begun to breath very quickly. He is never blue, but cannot even stand up from his chair to use his bottle without getting into breathing difficulties. I am sometimes very hard on him and tell him to breath normally (which he does while he is asleep), but he gets upset and says its because of his heart that he cannot breath. His local Dr. says his chest is clear, he has diruretics every other day, and is lokked after very well by his local Dr. & a Cardiac Specialist. I really am at a loss as to what could be the matter, and feel guilty that I'm hard on him sometimes, do you think he could be hyperventilating and if so how can I stop him doing it?. Or is there something about the operation of Ablation that could cause this. I look forward to your reply.  Written by his daughter. Thanks.

[CCF-M.D.-CRC]

Dear Dep,
The medical term for the feeling of being unable to breath is called dyspnea.  Potential causes of his dyspnea include, heart failure, COPD, asthma, valvular heart disease, and lung conditions.  The pacemaker may or may not be playing a role and should also be checked if it has not already been.  If no other cause can be found you may want to discuss with his cardiologist the possibility of adding a coronary sinus (CS) lead to the pacemaker as this may help with his symptoms.