Can a 9 yr old grow out of SVTs?

[joc468]

I'm Jo C & I have a question.  Can my 9 yr old daughter grow out of SVTs?  She had her first episode in April 2012 and ER was unsuccessful in lowering rate with Different medications.  She was taken to Children's Dallas where they were able to slow it down to a normal rate.  She spent the night and was started on med 25mg every 12 hours.  On her 6 month return visit they told us about ablation procedure. Her father and I disagree.  He wants to wait to see if she grows out of it and I (as well as our daughter) wants to go ahead with the procedure.  About 2 months ago she experienced her second episode.  No maneuvers to slow the rate were successful and I told her we are going to the ER.  She asked if they will start an IV on her.  I told her that they probably will.  Scared she turned on her side and heart rate returned to normal.  No other problems or side effects from medication.  Only the fear of missing a dose or another episode happening...mostly away from me &/or away from home..

[joc468]

Thank you.  I have learned so much and am taking notes to discuss with her team at Children's Hospital in Dallas.  Thankful I joined up here & asked.  I feel better informed.  Once again, thank you all.  

[littlegreenman1]

I would presume SVT to likely worsen with age. My lack of MD degree is about as good as my opion here, but if she cannot self convert and is winding up in the ER twice a year AND the EP says "I can fix it 90%." Fix it.

Otherwise and I use this term to drive a point... you are raising a drug addict. Why have a lifetime chemical dependency habit for a problem that can be fixed in a matter of hours?

Only caveat - the surgery is expensive. You will pay you maximum OUT OF POCKET (not deductible), so know that number and be prepared to write that check or have a pay off plan.

[globecanvas]

I was told by my EP that the electrophysiology of the heart changes over time, and that those changes can be either positive or negative.  In other words, it is possible to "outgrow" SVT, and it is also possible that the condition will worsen over time.

It seems that different doctors have different opinions on this matter.  I would strongly recommend seeing an EP who has some experience with children, and getting as many medically grounded opinions as you can.  I wish you the best in dealing with your daughter's condition.

[tom_h]

I had my first SVT episode at the age of 6.  It was 1957 and before there really was anything that could be done about my problem.  Cardiologists said that PERHAPS I would outgrow my condition.  I finally had my ablation at age 59....

[MichelleP_3811]

One other thing I will say.  If you decide to not do the ablation at this time I would suggest getting your daughter into some sort of cardiovascular activities.  I was never an exerciser and the svt episodes would knock me on my butt, basically I had to lay down during them.  But as I started to get more episodes I thought I might be able to exercise them away, I didn't know it wouldn't go away either as I hadn't seen a doctor at the time yet.  Anyways, once I started to get on the elliptical everyday I noticed a marked improvement in my tolerance for the svt episodes.  I could almost function normal though it was still hard to breath and I had to sit but I no longer needed to lay down and my stamina afterwards was really quite good.  So the more conditioned your daughter's heart the better she will tolerate having svt.  Obviously if she got an episode while she was exercising she should stop but in general exercising would be very good for her to help her handle the episodes better.  In any event once I hit my 40s I started to get biweekly episodes so at that point it was time to see a doctor to find out what was going on and had mine ablated about a year and a half ago.  But the exercising really did help a lot and I am still doing it because it really does help my heart feel stronger.  

[MichelleP_3811]

EP stands for Electro Physiologist. or a cardiologist who specializes in the electrical workings of the heart.  Mine pretty much told me point blank it doesn't go away and generally only gets worse as you age.  That said, svt is not considered dangerous by cardiologist.  It is only when a person has a sustained elevated rate for an extended period of time like days or years  do they run into a threat of something like heart failure due to the heart wearing down.  I will say I did let a few of mine go for 8 or so hours and I felt the effects of that mistake being pretty worn out the next few days but I did bounce back no problem so you will want to make sure you get it stopped in a decent amount of hours but in general the heart will recover from tachycadia, once the tachycardia is resolved.  That said, I do think the 40 years of having it myself did cause a bit of wear and tear on the heart but for the most part my heart is still extremely healthy for having had the condition for 40 years so you do not need to rush into an ablation but it may be prudent to do it sooner rather than later to simply ensure the health of your daughter's heart.  However, if your daughter has a type called wpw or wolf parkinson white syndrome there is a bit of an increased health risk so even if you don't ablate at this point I would try and at least get clarification whether or not your daughter's type is wpw or not.  So in the minimum I would consult with a doctor to discuss with them if your daughter would grow out it, maybe my EP was speaking in terms of my age and not a younger person.  As well get the whole picture of your daughter's situation so you can feel confident about the route you choose to take in the matter.  Either way, if she is able to manage it effectively she should be fine but getting it fixed is generally a fairly effective option.  The thought of having my heart messed with was super scary but in the end it really was not as big a deal as my mind had made it out to be.  

[Jannie411]

In answer to your question whether or not your daughter would grow out of SVT, I personally doubt it.  SVT began to make its presence known in my life around the time I was 13, but there were symptoms long before that, going back to early childhood.  Back then, it wasn't easily diagnosed and ablations weren't an option.  I'm not a medical professional, so I hesitate to offer advice in such a sensitive situation, especially since I don't know all the facts surrounding your daughter's particular case.
  
But speaking for the child I once was, and looking back over the years that were lost due to SVT, if there had been a procedure back then that would have cured me, I would have been very grateful if my parents had found the best cardiologist, EP (electro-physiologist) and medical center available and had the procedure done before my SVT progressed and became worse.

[joc468]

The info you provided is very much appreciated.  When talking about the possible complications of the procedure, you said "EP" what is that?      

[joc468]

Thank you very much.  Her father has heard from some people that she will be able to grow out of it.

[dolphin8808]

I agree with Michelle, I have not heard of children who outgrow SVT if anything I hear of it continuing until the child grows up and is old enough to have the procedure done themselves. Why is her father so against it?  Is he simply scared of the actual procedure?

[MichelleP_3811]

No your daughter will not outgrow the issue.  It actually will likely get worse.  The issue is she has an extra muscle fiber that is allowing the signal to get caught in a loop.  That extra piece of muscle will not just disappear.  That said, with young children who are still growing there is a higher risk of her fully healing from the ablation and needing to do another ablation down the line but then again she could be svt free from the ablation point on.  She would likely feel a bit of jumpiness from her heart for possibly several months afterwards though being young and catching it early may bode well for her.  The heart is very resilient and the medical community does not see tachycardia as truly dangerous so long as it is managed but after living with episodes my whole life I got mine fixed in my forties but it took a while for my heart to feel normal again because I likely stressed my heart out from 40 years of episodes.  But the heart will bounce back from it.  So though there isn't a need to rush into it if she isn't having frequent episodes and she can figure out how to stop them on her own the fact that they do seem to sustain may be a good enough reason to just try and get it fixed now as well for her peace of mind.  The fear and worry about when the next episode will hit can be more debilitating than the actual condition.  Ablations are actually fairly easy on the patient with extremely high success rates in the 98% range with extremely low complication rates in the range of around 2%.  Appendicitis has a complication rate of around 15% I read somewhere so all in all the biggest issue with doing the ablation is a risk the spot is too close to the avnode and they will not be able to fix it.  As well some have gone in and the EP has had issues provoking the svt but it may be worth a shot to have your daughter be free from worry.  Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.  We are here if you have anymore questions.