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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Are continuous arrhythmias something to be concerned about?
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 Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Are continuous arrhythmias something to be concerned about?
by mariamax2007, Feb 24, 2007 12:00AM
Hello,
I have a continuous arrhythmia (I have been told it is PVC from the ventrical area). My concern is I have these all day long at least 1 every 2 minutes or so, sometimes I have 3 in a minute and sometimes the skip seems to be two at a time. It has been happening more this week. There is shortness of breath and usually I notice it more when I lay down.
Six months ago I did have a CT scan of my heart and was told I did not have calcium deposits and my risk of heart disease was almost 0 according to that test. So this confuses me.
Should I still be worried?
Thanks!
Maria
I have a continuous arrhythmia (I have been told it is PVC from the ventrical area). My concern is I have these all day long at least 1 every 2 minutes or so, sometimes I have 3 in a minute and sometimes the skip seems to be two at a time. It has been happening more this week. There is shortness of breath and usually I notice it more when I lay down.
Six months ago I did have a CT scan of my heart and was told I did not have calcium deposits and my risk of heart disease was almost 0 according to that test. So this confuses me.
Should I still be worried?
Thanks!
Maria
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-M.D.-MM, Feb 24, 2007 12:00AM
Hi Maria,
In situation likes this, we usually start with a history and physical exam to help risk statify the situation. An echocardiogram, 12 lead EKG and a holter monitor help us determine if heart function is normal, the frequency of the events and if they correlate with symptoms, and if we are lucky enough to see them on a 12-lead EKG, help localize the PVC.
If we can determine that you have 'normal heart' pvcs, we can try medications to decrease the symptoms (beta blockers and other antiarrythmic medications). If this doesn't help, the next consideration is ablation in very symptomatic people. If you have normal heart PVCs and are having sometmes several per minute, ablation of the most common variety (outflow tract PVCs) is usually possible.
Normal heart VTs carry a very low risk. The decision to move to more invasive therapies is based on symptoms. If you have normal heart VT, you should not worry.
I hope this answers your questions. Thanks for posting.
In situation likes this, we usually start with a history and physical exam to help risk statify the situation. An echocardiogram, 12 lead EKG and a holter monitor help us determine if heart function is normal, the frequency of the events and if they correlate with symptoms, and if we are lucky enough to see them on a 12-lead EKG, help localize the PVC.
If we can determine that you have 'normal heart' pvcs, we can try medications to decrease the symptoms (beta blockers and other antiarrythmic medications). If this doesn't help, the next consideration is ablation in very symptomatic people. If you have normal heart PVCs and are having sometmes several per minute, ablation of the most common variety (outflow tract PVCs) is usually possible.
Normal heart VTs carry a very low risk. The decision to move to more invasive therapies is based on symptoms. If you have normal heart VT, you should not worry.
I hope this answers your questions. Thanks for posting.
Member Comments (3)
by bama jane, Feb 26, 2007 12:00AM
Do you have a few every minute 24 hours a day or just sometimes. I have them every day sometimes a few a minute and can feel them all. Do you know how many a day you have? Drugs have not helped lessen the feeling of them, am also short of breath with them and very symptomatic. I wonder how many a day a person should have before the benefit of the procedure is worth the risk?
by kk12, Mar 02, 2007 12:00AM
I had this problem a couple of years ago--my doctor did all the tests and I was find other than borderline high blood pressure so I was put on athenol (25 mg); this fixed the problem for while but the symtoms came back so she up my meds--then the symtoms came back yet again so off to the heart doctor. After more testing, which were fine, he told me that the heart resets numerous time a day and day and for some reason women are more aware of it than men and that my reg. doctor was doing the right thing but that basically we were treating a symtom and that because beta blockers slow the heart using a higher dose could create other problems. I went back to my original dose and have been fine every since--I believe the problem was being excerbated by my fear about it.
