Tachycardia After Valve

[shannon]

Hi -- I'm now more than 7 months post op, no complications, from valve and PFO repair.  I'm trying to understand why I still have a heart rate of 95-115.  I am not deconditioned; I'm a figure skater who spends 8 to 10 hours a week on ice and half that amount in off-ice training like stretching, weights, etc.  I am still taking beta blockers (atenolol) and digoxin in fairly low doses, but I forgot for the last two days to take my meds.  So my HR immediately shot back up into the 100s range.  My BP is pretty low from the meds (90/60 average) and I really want to get off the medications.  

My doc says the tachycardia will go away on its own.  He thought that would happen by six months post op -- now I'm at 7 months post op. I had an EP study done because I've also experienced several PVST episodes where my HR hits 200 (short ones -- less than five minutes each).  Lots of PVCs too but they don't bother me at all.  I'm just aware of them.

I truly don't understand why I'm having rhythm problems so far from surgery, when I didn't have them before surgery. Can you help me understand that?

Thanks for this service -- it's really invaluable to many of us in the electronic community.

Shannon

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

Hopefully, the abnormal heart rhythms and rate will settle down as your heart remodels after surgery. This can take several more months. However, it is possible that even though you have had surgery to repair your valve and PFO, the strain those defects put on your heart is, to some degree, permanent. Furthermore, the surgical closure itself can sometimes aggravate atrial arrhythmia.

[Hank Eyring]

Hello There Shannon,

I am writing you to let you know about a list that myself and several other Aortic Valve Replacement patients have going.

I am a 33 year old male who had aortic valve replacement surgery in April of 1999.  I often had questions about stuff like what do other people’s spouses think about their valves clicking, to how do the kids deal with Dad having major surgery.  Also issues about what is involved in approaching surgery, going through surgery and recovering from surgery. We also discuss the use of coumadin since most of us have to take it for the rest of our lives.

If you would like to join a mailing list along with folks who have been through this kind of stuff before and are facing it in the future, just go to the following URL and sign up.

http://frontpage.inficad.com/~hanky/heart.htm

You will find much help with this list and we all learn from each other.

Hope you can join us,

Hank Eyring