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VT - Electrophysiology Study

Hi, everybody. I'm a 64 year old female. In 2012, I had open heart surgery to repair mitral and tricuspid valves. Since then, things have been fine. I'm in otherwise good health (except for some anxiety which is well tended by meds). At my regular follow-up with the cardiologist, I mentioned that I'd been having some palpitations. He ordered an event monitor, which I've been wearing since April 18th. It evidently picked up some Ventricular Tachycardia, (22 beats) and I received a call from the cardiologist's office asking if I'd had any shortness of breath, fainting, pain, etc. I felt nothing during the time I was meant to be having the VT. I was put on 25 mg metropolis and told I need an electrophysiology study and possible ablation. You know, I was less scared about the open heart surgery than this! Could the event monitor have been mistaken? Do they ever give false positives? And am I going to actually FEEL them inducing tachycardia? That sounds decidedly unpleasant. At least when they crack your ribs and slice you open, you're unconscious! Finally, has anybody else developed VT years after valve repair. Many thanks in advance for any help.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your suggestions. The hospital is well regarded cardiology-wise. I was under the impression that this is just a study and, if necessary, an ablation might come later.  I'll see how things go tomorrow and keep you posted.
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1 Comments
They usually do the study and ablation, if it is needed, at the same time during the same study.
1807132 tn?1318743597
I would speak with the Electrophysiolgist and ask them what your risk factors are for sudden death.  22 beats isn't a lot and since you felt no symptoms maybe you can do a wait and see since it reverts on its own.  You do have the factor of having had valve problems which may have produced some scarring in your heart but if your VT is not sustaining for longer than a few seconds maybe you can avoid an ablation at this point.  Just get all the risks and rewards down before you agree to one.  Quite frankly, 22 beats isn't a lot and it could wind up being hard for the ep to induce the arrhythmia anyways so make sure you get clarification on how successful it would be with such short runs.  Best of luck deciding what you want to do. Keep us posted on how you are doing.
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12492606 tn?1459874033
possum, people that had open heart surgery are more susceptible to having arrhythmia from the scars due to surgery.  My only suggestion to you is to make sure that you pick a center that does at least 25 VT ablation procedures per year.  That would be the minimum suggested to maintain skills for this type of procedure.  Because you already had open heart surgery, your case needs an EP that knows how to get around unusual structures if it was created as a result of the prior surgery.
Helpful - 0
18059439 tn?1462816502
I decided to not be awake during my ablation, it was better for me that way. I have heard that many people choose to be awake during their ablation, but I was a bit afraid.
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