Aa
SVT/A-fib
Apologies to others trying to ask the doctor a question as this is my second question in a couple of weeks, I think I'm having a bit of luck getting through.
Doctor
Many thanks for your advice regarding having an EP study. I had the EP study last week (bearable for all of you out there..)and the cardio found scar tissue in the upper chambers of the heart - my heart rate went up to 230 beats per minute when he stimulated this area and it was sustained for a short while. The cardio says he can ablate this area. I also got a lot of pvcs during the study but the cardio could find no cause for these other than the ventricles being "irritable".
What I want to know is this:
1. Can the area the cardio found in my upper chambers which produced (I presume)the SVT also be responsible for episodes of atrial fibrillation and other upper chamber irregularities which I get? I am certain that I have had a few episodes of a-fib although I don't think I went into a-fib during the EP study. I haven't actually had the SVT like I had in the EP study for 20 years. I am obviously hoping that ablating this area would rid me of the upper chamber problems altogether.
2. What can have caused me to have this scar tissue in the upper chambers and does it mean my heart is 'damaged'?
Thanking you in advance.
Best Wishes, Linda
Doctor
Many thanks for your advice regarding having an EP study. I had the EP study last week (bearable for all of you out there..)and the cardio found scar tissue in the upper chambers of the heart - my heart rate went up to 230 beats per minute when he stimulated this area and it was sustained for a short while. The cardio says he can ablate this area. I also got a lot of pvcs during the study but the cardio could find no cause for these other than the ventricles being "irritable".
What I want to know is this:
1. Can the area the cardio found in my upper chambers which produced (I presume)the SVT also be responsible for episodes of atrial fibrillation and other upper chamber irregularities which I get? I am certain that I have had a few episodes of a-fib although I don't think I went into a-fib during the EP study. I haven't actually had the SVT like I had in the EP study for 20 years. I am obviously hoping that ablating this area would rid me of the upper chamber problems altogether.
2. What can have caused me to have this scar tissue in the upper chambers and does it mean my heart is 'damaged'?
Thanking you in advance.
Best Wishes, Linda
Dear Linda123,
I am glad everything went well with your EP study. People who experience atrial fibrillation and SVT may often have evidence of scarring in the atria(upper chambers). This could be contributing to the episodes of atrial fibrillation you are experiencing. The ventricles or lower chambers of the heart do not appear to be damaged, however the atria are damaged. The scarring in the atria will predispose you to further atrial rhythm disturbances. Fortunately, the lower chambers are where the majority of prognostic information is obtained and these are apparently normal in your case. I hope your recent ablation eliminates these rhythm disturbances.
Thanks for your question,
CCF-MD-KE
I am glad everything went well with your EP study. People who experience atrial fibrillation and SVT may often have evidence of scarring in the atria(upper chambers). This could be contributing to the episodes of atrial fibrillation you are experiencing. The ventricles or lower chambers of the heart do not appear to be damaged, however the atria are damaged. The scarring in the atria will predispose you to further atrial rhythm disturbances. Fortunately, the lower chambers are where the majority of prognostic information is obtained and these are apparently normal in your case. I hope your recent ablation eliminates these rhythm disturbances.
Thanks for your question,
CCF-MD-KE
you could very well have had a few pacs back to back. distinguishing between that and afibb in a brief span of 5 or even 10 seconds is even difficult with the evidence of an event recording strip, let alone without it.
Why didn't the doctor peform an ablation during your EP study? It sounds like he found the trouble spot, so I don't understand why nothing was done.
I had problems with my heart beginning about age 7. I am 36 now. I use to get spells of PSVT. During my teenage years they became more frequent, and I also noticed something else going on. I often would get this sensation in my chest where I knew my heart was not beating properly, but it was not beating fast. (I am sure now that this was Afib) This would go on for a couple minutes, or sometimes hours. At some point my heart would do one of two things. Either it would go back to beating normal, or it would start a run of PSVT. My heart rate usually went between 170 and 220 during the PSVT. This resulted in many trips to the ER. I never went to the ER before the PSVT started, so the AFib was never caught on tape.
At age 33 I finally decided on the ablation. At the time I did not know how to explain about the Afib, so the only thing the doctor knew for sure was that I had episodes of PSVT. The EP study took about 2 1/2 hours and the ablation was performed.
I have not had one episode of PSVT or sustained Afib in the last 3 years. Last year I did have about 4 or 5 seconds of Afib but that was it. Whatever the EP doctor did must have worked on both types of disturbances.
Well, whatever you decide I wish you good luck.
Steve
I had problems with my heart beginning about age 7. I am 36 now. I use to get spells of PSVT. During my teenage years they became more frequent, and I also noticed something else going on. I often would get this sensation in my chest where I knew my heart was not beating properly, but it was not beating fast. (I am sure now that this was Afib) This would go on for a couple minutes, or sometimes hours. At some point my heart would do one of two things. Either it would go back to beating normal, or it would start a run of PSVT. My heart rate usually went between 170 and 220 during the PSVT. This resulted in many trips to the ER. I never went to the ER before the PSVT started, so the AFib was never caught on tape.
At age 33 I finally decided on the ablation. At the time I did not know how to explain about the Afib, so the only thing the doctor knew for sure was that I had episodes of PSVT. The EP study took about 2 1/2 hours and the ablation was performed.
I have not had one episode of PSVT or sustained Afib in the last 3 years. Last year I did have about 4 or 5 seconds of Afib but that was it. Whatever the EP doctor did must have worked on both types of disturbances.
Well, whatever you decide I wish you good luck.
Steve
I live in the UK and I think that over here they do things a little differrent from in the States - they do an EP study for diagnostic purposes first, talk things through, make a decision, and then if all agree go on to do the ablation at a later date. I think personally I would have rather had it done when I had the original study because I've got to go through it all again now! Never mind - at least I know what's wrong with me after 28 long years of "it could be this and it could be that" and for that I am truly grateful.
How did you know that you had 4 or 5 seconds of Afib? Can you really distinguish that from PVC\PACs in that amount of time?
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