Uninformed...

I was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome almost a year ago. I was told that having this condition causes my heart to work overtime. That is scary because any muscle that is overworked will get tired. Any way, my question is this... Is the heart in only being overworked when it is in a tachycardic episode, or because of the extra pathway, is it constantly being overworked? Also, is the risk of sudden cardiac arrest only there when the heart is tachycardic? I have been taking Atenolol 25 mg daily since I was diagnosed and it has kept my condition pretty stable. Are there and longterm effects of this condition without having the ablation done? I appreciate your input! Thank you!  

[Cleveland Clinic]

The heart is only overworked when in tachycardia.  The risk of SCD is associated with any fast atrial rhythm such as atrial fibrillation.  If you don't undergo the ablation you may have more episodes of tachycardia and of course there is still the risk of SCD.  As long as your heart function is normal and there is no structural heart disease on your echo, there really aren't any other long term sequelae to this condition.  

[Davita]

So even though the extra pathway still shows on the EKG (even without tachycardia) it is not being overworked? That is very comforting because for the most part, my medicine takes care of my tachycardic episodes. Thanx