Supraventricular Tachycardia

[lola87]

I have supraventricular Tachycardia, heart beats at 246, ER converted with andesoine.  54 female, healthh heart. ER told me it was life threatening and could go into V-Fib.  My doctor told me it was not life threatening. . Who is correct??  Now I feel I need to be near a hospital at all times.  Getting ablation in a few weeks.

[is_something_wrong]

Wow. That's extreme. Aspirin is one of the few medicines where our government does not co-pay the prescriptions (which has been a subject for a lot of debate, as it's necessary for a lot of people to take to prevent heart attacks). Still, a bottle of 100 costs $14. But this is probably why we are among the last countries to get access to new medications. Also, waiting lists for consultations at hospitals are very long and we really don't have a well functioning specialist healthcare system. The GPs need to refer to a specialist, and waiting time can be several months. In the meantime people are dying or have severely reduced life quality.

I guess the US healthcare will be beneficial for those who can afford it. I often envy your access to specialists and treatments. But I understand why many consider it unfair.

[tom_h]

Medical cost in the US have run amok.  Hospitals charge 5 dollars for one common aspirin.  Health insurance premiums for in individual can run as high as $800 (US) per month for access to good doctors and drugs.  My employer here in the state of Massachusetts offers health insurance as part of the benefits package.  They pick up 75% while I pick up the remaining 25%.  My share costs me $65 (US) per week.  That's $1126 per month to insure my wife and me.  Family policies are even more.  Our state demands everyone has health insurance,  Massachusetts offers a policy referred to as MassHealth that an individual can purchase at a reasonable cost.  But it's basically a catastrophic policy as it does not cover routine visits and preventive care.  I am about to enter the realm of "senior citizen" health coverage.  I shudder to think how much of my budget will be allocated to pay the premium.......

Sorry to go off-topic.....

[is_something_wrong]

I wonder why medical procedures are that expensive in the United States.

We don't have private clinics doing ablations, but in Denmark there is a clinic where you can pay to have an ablation done. The cost is about $9.000.

[tom_h]

Sorry.... make that "wouldn't be so quick to rush into getting it fixed."

[tom_h]

I had SVT for 54 years until I got it fixed at 60 years of age.  I most cases, it is NOT life threatening but merely an annoyance.

How many SVT events have you experienced?  If this was your first event, I would be so quick to rush into to getting it fixed.  Repeatable event conditions often seem to the easiest to find and fix during an  electrophysiology study.  Are you aware of the methods that can be used to convert an event?  I was in the hospital only once for the hundreds and hundreds of events that I had; the first event with I was 6.  I was taught one particular method and used it my entire life to convert SVT back to normal rhythm.  I'm not trying to discourage you from getting it fixed for good.  But typically, most people along with their physicians usually ease into the ablation procedure, especially if you're footing a portion of the bill. Procedures costs in the US generally exceed $100,000 these days.

[is_something_wrong]

Depends on your symptoms during the tachycardia.

If you're not hemodynamically affected by the high heart rate (symptoms of low blood pressure, dizziness and especially fainting) and you don't get chest pain, the rapid heart rhythm is not dangerous (of course given that it doesn't last for weeks). As long as the blood pressure is maintained and the coronary arteries are open, the heart will get its oxygen supply and will not go into ventricular arrhythmias.