Low heart rate & SVT question

My wife (39 yrs old) has SVT and currently on atenolol (25mg), simvastatin (10mg) and aspirin (80mg) for over 3 years now. 2 days ago, while she was going through a nuclear mayocardial stress test, SVT was striggered and her heart rate went up to 260/min. The doctor administered 6mg & later 12mg of Adenosine to get the heart rate down. She will be visiting a cardiologist in 2 weeks. In the meantime, she still continues her daily medication. However her heart rate seems to be very low 50s (50-55) while resting and she gets tired very quickly. Should she be concerned about the low heart rate? Is she still having the affect of adenosine and should she stop atenolol for a few days? is surgery neccessary for her to eliminate SVT? Is SVT dangerous? is the procedure fixing SVT relatively safe (e.g. low risk)? BTW, her parents and her 2 older brothers passed away in their 40s due to heart disease. Her 3rd brother had heart attack in his 40s and currently on medications. Could her heart problem be genertic?

Thanks in advance for any opinion/answer

Locky

[RNRita]

SVT has been treated successfully by cardiac ablation.  I have two friends that are free of this because they underwent the procedure.  They both told me that their experiences were very nice.  No problems.  There are people who experience it differently, but I'll let them tell you.  When your wife goes into SVT, she will have to go to the ER to be converted, usually using adenosine, but they use other drugs, too.  Cardizem is a big one for control. I have had a heart rate of under 60 (normal) at times and it didn't bother me, but the atenolol may not be right for her.  You should ask your doc about it.  I am sure they are checking for heart disease, right? SVT is an electric problem, usually not related to actual heart disease.  As for the Adenosine causing her low heart rate, it has a very short half life.  It shouldn't be doing anything at this point!  Good luck.

[Bromley]

I read that the procedure for cure of certain SVT's has relatively low rate of complication and high rate of success.  It can be a good procedure in the right hands. The complications can be serious, however, so it is a good idea to go into it with both eyes opened (i.e informed). If my SVT did not convert on its own after a minute, I would consider it.  You can always do an EP study to find out exactly what you have before doing anything irreversible.

regards

[locky88]

Thank you very much for your opinions/inputs, we will defintely have a detail discussion with her cardiologist next week (for the first time) to evaluate the all the risks carefully. I guess the success rate is higher if they can pintpoint exactly what/where causes it and fix it. She has SVT for a long time since she was in her late teen and normally, it converted itself after a few minutes of resting. However, the last time she had it (during her excercise), it took over an hour to convert and she complained there was some chest during that period. That's why her family doctor sent her to the nuclear mayocardial test and during the test, SVT kicked in again (this time she said no pain at all) and that how they gave her adenosine (6mg & 12mg). The reason the other doctor (internal medicine) gave her atonolol was because of her family history and he didn't want her to take any chance with high blood pressure or cholesterols. Does SVT normally comes with high blood pressure? 3 years ago when she had her SVT, her blood pressure was 165/130. if SVT is the only thing she has then we might just leave it as is. The only thing I am concerned is there may be other issue with her heart since the high death rate in her family with stroke and/or heart attack. I guess we will find out more when we see her cardiologist next week.

Thanks again Rita/bromley

Locky

[mabebesc]

Hi,
I recently had a successful cardiac ablation on Aug. 4th for SVT.  I began having SVT in my late teens and am now 53 years old.  I am now cured of the SVT and am so happy.  It was the best thing I could have done for myself. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you.
By the way, my understanding is that SVT isn't genetic. No one in my family has it .
I had AVNRT which is an extra electrical pathway in the heart.  The ablation procedure burned that pathway so now the SVT can't start up.
I'm sure you'll get more info when you see the cardiologist- I certainly understand what your wife is going through since I've been through it.
Betty
Betty