Is Ventricular Arrythmia totally curable?

[James88]

Hello...

I'm a 20 year old male who was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia almost 5 years ago after my older brother died of the same thing.  Because of this, the conclusion is that it's a congential issue.  Since then, I've had 2 ablations (the last ablation being May 2007), a defibrilator implant and I and am on Metroprol and Amiodarone.  

The last ablation I had was one in which my electrophysiologist/surgeon was much more extensive than the first ablation I had, and he also used a new technique (pardon me, I'm a little vague on the details as I was informed of this technique as I was waking up from the operation) in which involved slicing part of the heart, somehow cancelling electric signals which could cause arrythmia.  Before both ablations my surgeon told me he'd make my heart 70-75% better than before.  

Well, after last year's ablation my heart felt better than ever.  I've had absolutely zero recordings on my defibrillator from any episodes and even had less "skipped" beats than the average human.  I had felt healthy for the first time in a long time for a full year.

As soon as summer vacation arrived this year, I started to feel a little paranoid as I'd feel like my heart rate was beating faster than it should at a state of rest and I felt slight discomfort from my heart.  I scheduled an appointment with my cardiologist and my heart rate was monitored and recorded for 24 hours.  I was never called back with any sort of issue so I assumed it was all just in my head.

However after giving a presentation in mid-July of this year, I visited my electrophysiologist and he noticed that my defibrillator picked up a recording of breif tachycardia during the time of my presentation.  Even though the drug I'm on, Amiodarone, can become toxic after years of use, he told me he does not want to reduce the amount I'm on with the absense of another ablation.  

I really thought I was "cured" for a little while.  He told me I'd have to have an ablation every 4-15 years, so I was expecting at least another 4 years before I'd start having heart symptoms again.  So is there ever a 100% cure for ventricular tachycardia, or is this something I'll have to be operated on for the rest of my life?  Thanks for reading.

--James

[madjlp]

You've actually received an ARVD diagnosis?  Do you know how they determined it - Cardiac MRI, EKG, echo etc etc.  The condition is progressive but that doesn't mean you can't live a productive, long life.  Hugh Calkins is the lead investigator at Hopkins - I met him and liked him (I do not have ARVD) - one of his research coordinators is Amy ? -I'm blanking on the last name but she is great also.  If your insurance allows for it and you are able, call them - they will see you and are probably the best equipped to help you in the US.  Before you call get copies of all your records from your docs.  Good luck.

[James88]

I think you're right on the money, Mariop.  I do have ARVD but wasn't ever told it was progressive until I looked it up just now.  That's depressing....knowing my heart will continue to degenerate.  Thanks for the responses people!   Much appreciated.  

[mariop]

There is a condition called ARVD (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplesia), which unfortunately is progressive.  It is a condition where the heart wall becomes infiltrated by fatty-fibrous tissue, which conducts electrical pulses.  It has been associated with a congenital factor and I believe John Hopkins Univ in Baltimore specializes in this procedure.  It is usually recommended that if someone in the family has been diagnosed with it, other memebers of the family should be checked out.  An MRI is part of the tools used for diagnoses.  As I understand it, there is no cure, but a defibrillator is more than 99 percent effective against sudden death.  You may want to be more direct with your doctor and ask if in fact this is what you have.

[RNRita]

Oh you are so young to have been through so much already.  I don't know the answer to your question as it is one I've never seen on the unit I worked on, but I am hoping that they will "cure" you completely.  I think the defibrillator is a great thing!!!  I am sure it makes you feel much more secure.  Please keep us posted here.  Also, I am so sorry about your brother.

[James88]

Hey Julesluvsdrew, I had an idea I had it right after my brother dropped dead from heart problems, of which we were unaware of at the time.  I used to be on the swim team and began having trouble keeping up.  I'd have periods of very rapid heartbeats where I'd lose my breath, get light-headed and feel a very uncomfortable tightness in my chest.  I never passed out but came close too at school one day in class.  I could barely stand up without getting tunnel vision, and people said I looked very white that day.  I finally made an effort to go to the cardiologist who said everything was fine, but then, THANK GOD, as I was leaving, my heart started to go into tachycardia.  He caught it at the last minute and sent me for an immediate ablation and defibrillator implant.  The ablation did little to stop it, he said he couldn't find the main areas that were causing arrythmia.  

The defib. implant is a must have in my opinion.  It puts my mind at ease..this way I know my heart will never stop, or if I do go into tachycardia, I have assurance that my defibrillator will try to shock my heart back into normal rhythm.  The reason I got a second ablation was because my heart started to act up, my defibrillator shocked my heart out of a continuous arrhythmia but did not kill it all the way.  If my defib. didn't shock me, my heart very well could have become too erratic to pump blood enough for me to stay alive.  The surgery was quick and easy, they implanted it below my left shoulder.  The only problem is they have to replace the battery every 5-7 years, maning another surgery, but it's supposed to be only 30-45 min long.  

[julesluvsdrew]

Hey there,I too have V Tach..I had an ablation for it a few years back,but it never fully went away.My pvcs happend less and the nsvt did too but it still came from time to time.I was curious,how was your VTACh discovered?Have you ever passed out??Please tell me about your defibrillator experience(when you got it put in)...im worried ill have to have one soon :(