wpw

[camtcb]

hi,
  I'm a 29 year old married male who has always been VERY athletic,Ive had anxiety since i was 18 and Ive been to the E.R. a couple times for it.Every time they do an E.K.G. and every time they came back "normal".. About 2 years ago I was feeling very dizzy, faint, short of breathe,palpitations and my chest was tight so i went to the E.R. and they did another E.K.G. and it came back with the WPW pattern on it..but said that my symptoms were because of anxiety/panic attack not WPW. Now almost every one I have done comes back with the pattern.I was referred to a cardiologist who made me do an stress echo-cardiogram (which came back good)and then to an electrophysiologist..He performed an electrophysiology study and couldn't get my heart to misfire, even with a high dose of (i think its called andonosine on something) He couldn't do an ablation because he couldn't find anything..He told me that i had the pattern of WPW but not the syndrome..He said it was intermittent but  its always there.He also said that it was a very weak pathway and it wouldn't get worse as i age.He said that I shouldn't worry but It's hard not to when you know that something isn't quite "normal".. I've never really had any tachycardia episodes before, but if my symptoms aren't related to the WPW then why is the irregularity there now and never before?  I guess my questions are.
1-is this something to worry about or not?
2- Is there anything else to watch for other than tachycardia
3-could this be something else ,but showing as WPW
4-is there an increased risk of me keeling over dead from this?
5- does a short pr interval put me at an increased risk of a cardiovascular event? What is considered really short?
6-sometimes my heart gets down to 56 bpm while I'm lying in bed. Is that normal?
7-Is it ok to excersise hard or not?( i used to love to lift weights)
8- what is considered a very rapid heart rate?
  Sorry about all the questions.... Thank you for your help...
             C.

[PikaPika88]

My symptom started at 6 yrs old undiagnosed until 15..  Then I had the his bundle ablation at 27 years old.  After that I kept wpw pattern until 47 years old.  A-Fib and SSS occured.  Although I have wpw pattern but my cardio still put a pacemaker in for the security/insurance purposes.  He expected my A-Fib will come one day.  Although my wpw is a pattern not a syndrome but it is a very active conduction path.  Take care.

[camtcb]

thanks to all that posted, I feel alot better now...
   CODY

[Chriswpw]

I wouldn't worry much, especialy after the doctors told you it was ok. There are cases of wpw that are harmless where the open pathway eventualy heals itself or is not active. I went 29 years with out knowing. unfortunetly for me it was dangerous. I had HR of 315 the first episode I had. Like Jerry said, I would monitor it and if you feal anything just keep your cardio informed.

I would go ahead and work out if that is what you are used to doing.

Take care

[Bromley]

Oh by the way, I assume when you are talking about an EP study with adensosine, they used adenosine, after the catheter had been inserted and the probes were inside your heart, right?  You did say EP study and adenosine.  

I have also heard of using adenosine without a heart catheterization to characterize some techinical aspects of WPW too.  this is not what people refer to when they talk about an EP study.

[Bromley]

Hi.  I had WPW for several years, and it went undetected. I recall the first symptoms of it when I was 17. I am now 49. As time went by, the symptoms became worse, and a few years ago, I went to see an electrophysiologist, who ablated it.  I only have the remnants of it now: a few beats of it here and there...i.e. cured.

It is a long story, but to make it shorter, WPW was never much of a problem for me, other than the fact that I worried about it.  Yes, worry about it enough to have the doc check it out, but then forget it.  If your doc has done an EP study an says you are gonna be ok, and especially if you symptoms are minor, shortlived, and he was unable to induce it during the catheterization, then you are gonna be ok. Dont waste time worrying about it.

Keep in mind that there are a couple of ways to treat this, when it actually becomes sypmtomatic.  Consider yourself lucky if your doctor is not recommending that you take drugs;  they make you feel depressed.  Further, a permament fix using ablation is usually not recommended except in more pronounced cases because it carries inappropriate risk for someone with a small case if it.

Just my opinion here; I am no doctor.  Talk to your doctors and nurses if you have any concerns at all.  They can help to reassure you.

regards.

[Jerry_NJ]

I can't answer most of your questions, but it appears you have "nothing to worry about".  You've had the tests, and one fact you shared is your anxiety and that can cause heart symptoms.

Some anwers:
2)  be aware of missed beats or irregular heart rates... not easy as you should in general just go about life, without thinking about how your heart is beating.
4) from what I read your risk is low, no one is risk free
6) a HR of 56 is great, and normal for someone with a strong cardio vascular system, i.e., good aerobic exercise history
7) exercise is good, in general. But I think it is possible to overdo it, i.e., trying to lift something that is too heavy .. power lifting as contrasted with exercise lifitng.
8) HR over 100 at rest is generally not a good sign, a HR over 200 is bad.