Post-ablation tachycardia symptoms return

Posted by Harriet on August 05, 1999 at 12:40:57
My daughter, now 17, had an A.V. Node ablation 14 months ago.  She recovered well and had no post operative problems.  She has had no sensation of tachycardia until this week.  The first was a 15-second period of heart pounding, and the second (four days later) was five seconds of heart racing.  We are going to return to the specialist next week, but in the meantime I am curious about a few things.
When the ablation was taking place, the doctors found a second, more serious arrhythmia.  They told us that it might never cause her trouble, since it may have been stimulated by the ablation procedure.  If it did surface, however, it might present these types of symptoms.  My question is:  Could the AV Node tachycardia come back after a year - do those nodes grow back?!  Are these short episodes possibly caused by scarring from the ablation even though there have been no symptoms for a year?
My daughter is scheduled to go away to college in two weeks and is planning to play competitive sports.  Is it wise for her to do so with an arrhythmia problem, or are the two unrelated?  Also, if long-term measures are required, will we be asked to choose between a pacemaker and beta blockers?
Thanks for the help - a week is a long time for a mother to wonder!

Posted by CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on August 05, 1999 at 16:16:25
It's a bit hard to be very specific without knowing more details of why they performed the ablation and what other arrhythmia they found but in general after 14 months it is more likely a different rhythm than the one ablated.  Participation in sports will depend on the type of arrhythmia.  In general a pacemaker in a 17 yo would only be a last resort.
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