Couple heart rhythm questions

[Hiker in Hawaii]

1. Generally speaking, which rhythm disturbances best benefit from an EP study....In other words, which rhythms are best treated with medication and which ones are best treated w/an EP study?...

2. What are common symptons w/LQTS - ie; fast heartrate, slow heartrate, syncope, etc?...

3. I just completed a 30 day monitor study (2 prior Holter studies didn;t show anything of life threatening issue but did reveal junctional rhythm and sinus rhythm) (also 2 echos done and one CMRI were normal)...The symptons i had during this study were mostly skipped beats/pauses issues, didn't feel any rapid heart rates except for when i was excercising....i see the MD in another week to go over the study.....When patients do a 30 day study and transmit readings to the group monitoring the study, are readings read instantly, or do alarm bells (so to speak) only go off if certain rhythms are discovered?....Just wondered how these long term event studies are done....

Thank you CCF....

[CCFHeart MD25]

1) The best arrhthymias for an ep study are typically fast rhythms originating from the atria (SVT's) or from the ventricles (VT's). The purpose of the EP study is twofold. The first is to diqagnose the issue. The second is to get rid of the issue

2) The most common symptom from LQTS is syncope.

3). The recordings are reviewed when you transmit the readings, usually within 1-2 days.

[jtaime2]

I think AP studies are mostly done for people with Atrial Fibulation.  They can go in and actually destroy the tissue that is causing the AF.  It's usually a long procedure(sometimes 4-5 hrs) because of the mapping they have to do.  Good luck

[marlinspike]

Sorry, folks. Thought I was editing my post and it reposted the whole thing.

[marlinspike]

I think when it is a long term study the data is immediately read by machine which would flag up any concerning rhythms. The whole data is read by machine, which gives the summary of number of ectopic beats etc., and also read by a dr or technician before the report is passed on to you. I think if any dangerous rhythms were found they would have contacted you immediately during the monitoring period. They should be able to tell you what the skipped beats are (pacs or pvcs) and how many you had in the monitored period. I get very frequent pvcs and all the info I have read suggests that they are almost always benign in a structurally normal heart - an echo would show if your heart wasn't normal.

Not sure about ep studies, but I get the impression that they are a further step for people who have very frequent pvcs or pacs, or who have lots of symptoms. I don't know much about lqt syndrome either, but I believe it is identifiable on an ekg, and easily distinguished from pacs and pvcs.

I guess you are worrying that the skips are more than just the common palps that most people get. Lqt is much less common than pvcs or pacs, so it's more likely that yours are the usual benign plapitations. Cut out caffeine, soda, alcohol, eat small meals, try to avoid stress - all these can trigger palps or make them worse. Good luck with your appmt and please let us know how you get on.

[marlinspike]

I think when it is a long term study the data is immediately read by machine which would flag up any concerning rhythms. The whole data is read by machine, which gives the summary of number of ectopic beats etc., and also read by a dr or technician before the report is passed on to you. I think if any dangerous rhythms were found they would have contacted you immediately during the monitoring period. They should be able to tell you what the skipped beats are (pacs or pvcs) and how many you had in the monitored period. I get very frequent pvcs and all the info I have read suggests that they are almost always benign in a structurally normal heart - an echo would show if your heart wasn't normal.

Not sure about ep studies, but I get the impression that they are a further step for people who have very frequent pvcs or pacs, or who have lots of symptoms. I don't know much about lqt syndrome either, but I believe it is identifiable on an ekg, and easily distinguished from pacs and pvcs.

I guess you are worrying that the skips are more than just the common palps that most people get. Lqt is much less common than pvcs or pacs, so it's more likely that yours are the usual benign plapitations. Cut out caffeine, soda, alcohol, eat small meals, try to avoid stress - all these can trigger palps or make them worse.