wandering pacemaker

[dck265]

my dad just had his aortic valve replaced(he is 88 and this was a redo of pig valve with a cow valve) also this was the fourth time he has been opened up due to bypasses...so all went well...he was home within a week...but then swelled up and developed afib...card raised his lasix to 60 2xper day   and put him on 5mg of coumidin...one week later his afib went away and he lost 9lbs...now this week he lost another 6lbs and has developed wandering pacemaker...his hemotologist has given him 2 bags of iron so with 3 more to come...why is all this happening?  is this the beginning of the end ?

[cindy707]

Sorry you are going thru this with your pop......to me one of the most disturbing things and a red flag is the rapid weight loss....you have to watch him carefully now to make sure that he isn't getting dehydrated which happens with rapid weight loss alot.  This could definately be due to the lasix and you should make sure that the doc is aware of this...it is not the beginning of the end but at an advanced age as he is he is in a higher risk group and everything should be suspect with him especially if he has gone thru the major surgerys  as he has......you have to remember that the heart beats over 100,000 times in any given day and if you add that all up and multiply times 88 years you will get my drift....i think as we all get older parts start wearing out on our bodies for over use and thank goodness for medical science and that they are able to prolong our lives.......none of us know when the date will come that we are to "go home" and you are so lucky to still have your dad at 88....enjoy every single day with him and just keep your eyes open and don't hesitate to call the doc if something seems off to you.....................................

[is_something_wrong]

A wandering pacemaker is not the beginning of the end!

Wandering pacemakers are spots in the heart's upper chambers that for some reason starts to fire at a higher rate than sinus node. It's a line of PACs, essentially, but not necessarily at a rate high enough to qualify for the term "atrial tachycardia" or SVT.

We can all get those "pacemakers" from time to time, if often happens during sleep (in healthy people) as the sinus rate is slowed down due to deep sleep and high vagal activity.

I hope your father will be OK! It's really nice the Afib went away!

You can read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandering_pacemaker

You/he can also ask the doctor if you are worried.