NSVT and thrill rides

[bjd720]

Hello.  In December of last year, my heart was monitored during a sleep study, where a short stint of Vtach occurred.  The cardiologis that later did an ablation for SVT said that the occurance was several PVC's in a row (NSVT).  Vtach was not found when the ablation was completed (only SVT).  However, the thought of Vtach is still in my mind because of the episode, and the feeling that I had during the NSVT was the same feeling that I always had the instant before an SVT episode.  To this day, I still have PVC's that seem to be brought on mostly by anxiety.  Tomorrow, I'm planning to go to a theme park; and I recall an episode of SVT while riding a roller coaster when I was younger.  Is there any known circumstances / correlations between Vtach / NSVT and thrill rides?  Should I stay off of thrill rides all together?

[wmac]

Nonsustained vtach is three or more pvcs in a row with no normal beats in between lasting under 30 seconds. If it last 30seconds or longer it is then considered sustained vtach.  If you do not have a structural heart disease it is then considered idiopathic vtach or nsvt. That is when they dont worry about it. If you have a good ef and no heart disease then its benign. However if  there is heart disease or your ef is low they do worry then.
wmac

[wmac]

Nonsustained vtach is three or more pvcs in a row with no normal beats in between lasting under 30 seconds. If it last 30seconds or longer it is then considered sustained vtach.  If you do not have a structural heart disease it is then considered idiopathic vtach or nsvt. That is when they dont worry about it. If you have a good ef and no heart disease then its benign. However if  there is heart disease or your ef is low they do worry then.
wmac

[ks1982]

Does a run of several PVC's in a row automatically mean that it's vtach?  I'm kinda confused about that.   I always thought that runs of PVC's could be a symptom of vtach if you had some sort of structural heart defect but that by themselves they weren't vtach?  

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

Hello,

Is there any known circumstances / correlations between Vtach / NSVT and thrill rides?  Should I stay off of thrill rides all together?

That is an interesting question.  Mechanistically some SVT can be initiated by a NSVT.  It is possible that the feeling is similar because the NSVT was the initiating event in your SVT.  Both SVT and NSVT can be triggered by stress – adrenaline or catecholamines.  When you were on the roller coaster you were probably scared or stressed and that allowed the SVT to occur.  I would need to know what the SVT was to be able to answer the question with reasonable certainty.

It is possible that the stress from a roller coaster could induce increased PVCs or NSVT.  If you get more PVC/NSVT with stress, it makes physiologic sense that a beta blocker would help -- but this isn't always the case.   If you have a structurally normal heart and normal EKG, this shouldn’t be a problem as long as you tolerate the PVCs and NSVT. It is a question that you should ask your doctor since your doctor knows your full history.  For people with heart disease, roller coasters are not a good idea.  If you have structural heart disease, significant stress can lead to dangerous heart rhythms in rare circumstances.

I hope this helps.  Thanks for posting.

[Carey01]

I'm interested inthe answer to that one.  My mother in law can not ride roller coasters at all even though she loves them and has no fear of them.  I guess the adrenaline does something to her heart because it will start skipping like crazy!