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Cleveland Clinic, MD  
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My Posts
Minimally invasive treatment options for paroxysmal a-fib
Feb 19, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Dave, From what you say it sounds like you would be an ideal candidate for an ablation procedure. Atrial fibrillation ablation is still somewhat new but we are gaining more experience and have very good success rates. It is not for everyone yet and there is a very small risk for stroke. We don't know if waiting will make the problem worse but my bias...
Persistent Pericarditis
Feb 15, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Matt, Recurrent pericarditis occurs in about 20% of acute pericarditis cases. The treatment for recurrent pericarditis is first nonsteroidals and then steroids for those who fail to respond. Surgical pericardiectomy (striping of the pericardium) is reserved for those patients who have persistent recurrent pericarditis accompanied by severe chest pai...
Automatic ectopic sites
Feb 15, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
An automatic ectopic site is a technical description of the cause of an arrhythmia. What it means is there is a group of cells or a site in your heart that is firing rapidly on its own and not in sync with the rest of the heart. This may lead to rapid heart beats or skipped beats. The treatment will depend on what type of arrhythmia it is causing and how s...
confused
Feb 14, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Doug, 1. Yes there is a difference between mildly dilated right ventricle (RV) and dilated cardiomyopathy. A mildly dilated RV is non-specific and not generally serious or necessarily the start of something worse whereas a dilated cardiomyopathy is a serious condition. 2. Tne EF would still be the same with VSD. Right sided function can also be ...
Norms for Heart Rate - and body mass index
Feb 13, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
I understanding you hesitance but I think you will feel much better with a pacemaker. Let us know how things turn out.
Post heart surgery problems
Feb 13, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear tsm, I have never heard of increased abdominal complains following open heart surgery. Generally gallstones cause right upper quadrant pain but it is possible that could be the cause of your pain. It is not necessary to be having the pain at the time of the ultrasound to make the diagnosis. If the ultrasound is non-dasgnostic there are also nuclear s...
Hypotension
Feb 13, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Johan, There is not a set number where low blood pressure becomes critical. As long as the pressure generated is perfusing the brain and other organs with blood and there is no dizziness the blood pressure is "high enough". In general however systolic blood pressures lower than 60-70 will raise eyebrows and the source of the low pressure is ...
aching calf muscles
Feb 13, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Bob, If I understand correctly you have been off Lipitor since last June. If this is the case I can say with great certainty that the Lipitor is not the source of the cramps. Myositis (muscle inflammation) is a rare side effect of cholesterol lowering medications but is usually presents more as a overall muscle ache and not a localized pain that comes...
Confused
Feb 11, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Syd, If I were seeing you at the Clinic I would first review all your tests and their results. If I was not happy that what you have had done was adequate I would probably order a persantine thallium stress test and a loop recorder. If both these tests were negative I could say with a good degree of confidence that your problems are not heart relate...
irregular beats
Feb 11, 2001 in the Heart Disease Expert Forum
Dear Louise, It is possible you have a condition called sinus node dysfunction (SND). This is a condition where the heart alternates between slow and fast heart rates. It would be atypical to occur in someone your age but not impossible. Did the oxygen monitor show any drops? These type symptoms could also be due to sleep apnea. I would suggest ask...