No Damaged Pathway Was Found During Catheter Ablation

Dear Doctor,

I have been experiencing these symptoms for the past 6 months:

Strong & pounding heart beat (more obvious when I'm lying down), sudden rise of heart beat, anxious, dizziness, difficulty breathing during palpitations (sometimes), fatigue, and sometimes my chest jumps but it's not painful.

I have done numerous ECGs, stress tests (twice in 6 months), blood tests, Holter monitor, rhythm card.

Based on my ECG reading, the electro physiologist diagnosed me with SVT and performed catheter ablation on me. However, he couldn't ablate me as he couldn't find the damaged pathway.

My question is; if no damaged pathway was found but the ECG reading suggested SVT, what else could it be?

After a few days of the procedure, I still feel tired and a rather uncomfortable feeling beneath the chest. Is this normal?

[ireneo]

Yes, it's normal to feel a bit tired and a dull ache after an ablation. However, you didn't have an ablation (where they actually burn the heart). You had a study done. I suppose that could still cause some irritation in there.

Sometimes it takes another EP study to catch the troublesome bit in the heart. I've had 3 EP studies and ablations. The first time they thought they had it fixed but it wasn't. The second time they zapped away in there but my heart kept acting up so they gave it a break. The third time they zapped the troubled areas and improved (not fully fixed) the arrhythmias. So you can see the heart is a complex and stubborn organ.

Talk it over with your cardio, see what s/he wants to do next.

[ireneo]

Yes, it's normal to feel a bit tired and a dull ache after an ablation. However, you didn't have an ablation (where they actually burn the heart). You had a study done. I suppose that could still cause some irritation in there.

Sometimes it takes another EP study to catch the troublesome bit in the heart. I've had 3 EP studies and ablations. The first time they thought they had it fixed but it wasn't. The second time they zapped away in there but my heart kept acting up so they gave it a break. The third time they zapped the troubled areas and improved (not fully fixed) the arrhythmias. So you can see the heart is a complex and stubborn organ.

Talk it over with your cardio, see what s/he wants to do next.