My husbands heart stopped beating

[maeli1969]

Recently my husband who is 32 years old told me, his heart stopped beating. It was suddenly, he then had pain in his chest and he said it was hard for him to breathe. That was before Jan 1, 2008. That is when he quit smoking. Then later on it did it again. Out of the blue. Suddenly. Of coarse his heart starts back. To him at the time it probably seems like a long time before it starts again. I am an LPN I work on a Critical Care Unit. I thought it might be PVC's. But I have never had a patient complain about PVC's hurting or scaring them. When my husband finally told me about this...he was in tears and afraid. My question is do I need to have him see a cardiologist? Or do you think that it is something as simple as some SVT with a pause going back into a NSR? Or a PVC?
I think he goes have some HTN. His grandfather passed from a MI. His father passed from a CVA.

Your Help would be greatly appreciated.

[firemedic818]

You need to have him see a cardiologist to rule out anything definitive. He needs a 12 lead EKG stat! SVT and PVC's are not benign situations, plus you do not know whether he even went into a different rhythm or having various complexes like PVC's. Most PVC's are benign but usually do not cause chest pain, and 3 PVC's in a row is considered V-Tach which is a deadly rhythm without correct intervention! I would highly recommend going to the ER and having him looked at, if he is unstable u need to call an ambulance!

[ireneo]

Certainly if this is new to him, he should check with his doctor, perhaps wear a heart monitor for awhile. Then they can see if it's a PVC with a long compensatory pause or something else like heart block. You just can't tell from feeling. I'm sorry he's going through this.