Accessory Pathway

[bill]

I have recently diagnosed with an accessory pathway.  I am 40, good health and exercise regularly.  My pulse is typically about 50 bps which I attribute to swimming and running.

My doctor has ordered a thallium ekg on me and I haven't found much on the net to ask about that.  Pls provide me with a little information on both, the thallium test and the accessory pathway.

thank you,

bill

[CCF CARDIO MD JMF]

Thanks for your comments.

[CCF CARDIO MD JMF]

An accessory pathway is an additional electrical pathway that you were born with that conducts electricity faster than the normal conduction system so allows your heart to beat at faster than normal rates.  If need be this may be treated with an ablation to destroy this tissue.

A thallium test is a radioisotope that is taken up by the active heart muscle.  changes in thallium distribution will detect areas of the heart that are not receiveing adequate flow and suggest where blockages may be in the coronary arteries.

[Mario]

Bill, The heart is a muscle and is divided into chambers. The heart muscle has special conductive tissue that allow electrical impulses to travel,  the impulses create an organized beat. However sometimes things can go wrong.  Accessory Pathway exists when there is an extra connection in the heart from the Atria straight to the ventricles. This gives you an extra pathway for the electrical impulse to travel down to the ventricle to create an extra beat. Most people will have fast heartbeats sometimes as high as 170 to 190bpms. A thallium test can be done both at rest and under stress usually on a bike or treadmill and in some cases your DR can creat the stress with the use of meds. The DR will want to see an image of your bloodflow to the heart. Usually checking to see if there is adequate bloodflow to the heart muscle. Bill there are drugs that can control your ACC Path and at the worst scenario Radio Frequency AB can be done and it carries with it over 95% success rate. The important thing is that you are now under the supervision of a DR and well on your way .Take care....Mario