Wolff-Parkinson-White

[Cacia]

I'm Mr. Omega-3.

YA-Hoo! If we were neighbors we could cycle and pop recreational fish oil together.

 

[sharkcandy]

so if i skimmed all those replies accurately, sara, you're a MRI technologist?? if you're working in a major facility just wander down the hall to the cardiac cath lab. watch a couple procedures for yourself and get to know the cardiologists and interventional radiologists that do the procedure at your site.

then go home, and try not to think about every beat of your heart. remember that it's normal to have a few sporatic beats in a day.

best of luck!

 

[Sarasmile]

Hi Sharkcandy, I noticed you are a X-ray tech also. I am actually working at a small clinic right now and the hospital that is right by us doesn't do ablations there. I have asked some of the interventional Radiologists that come to our clinic to read and there are only a few facilities here that do them.

Do you get to see them quite often there? As a person in the medical field, I'm a big baby when it comes to going to the doctor.

Thanks for all the info.

Sara

 

[dlegros]

Just a couple of queries,

Why approach via the aorta, when the SAN is in the right atrium, which is better approached via the femoral vein and inferior vena cava.

Why ablate the SAN for WPW which is a pre-excitation syndrome? The SAN is functioning normally, there is an accessory pathway between the atrium and ventricle, allowing parallel conduction to the AVN/His system, or re-entry tachyarrhytmias?

Surely you would want to ablate the Bundle of Kent (the accessory pathway).

Dom

 

[Cacia]

(I am not sure about the cryomapping for WPW....mine was AV Reentry Tachycardia caused by a retrograde conduction through a variant pathway, good point about the right heart and the femoral vein being the venous access.) I don't know if mine was femoral or venous. I know caths are done arterial, but they are entering the CA's.

I know they fire off some juice and watch where it conducts, ...that is cool, that they feel their way through the whole case. Mine took a long time on the table. Seven hours or something? Modern science and technology at it's best.

We had a pro surf champion here on the North Shore, from California, in a big contest and he went into SVT or something..they ablated him and he finished the contest a couple days later.

 

[PaulChristenson]

I had an abnormal EKG a couple weeks ago saying that I have Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome. I'm hoping this is a mistake and am having further testing this week, but I'm A-symptomatic and have been on many dives prior to finding this out.

Anyone have any advice? Cardiac ablation?

Sara

Many people with this syndrome who have symptoms or episodes of tachycardia (rapid heart rhythm) may have dizziness, chest palpitations, fainting or, rarely, cardiac arrest. Other people with WPW never have tachycardia or other symptoms. About 80 percent of people with symptoms first have them between the ages of 11 and 50.

How is this syndrome treated?

People without symptoms usually don't need treatment. People with episodes of tachycardia can often be treated with medication. But sometimes such treatment doesn't work. Then they'll need to have more tests of their heart's electrical system.

 

[Saturation]

I had an abnormal EKG a couple weeks ago saying that I have Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome. I'm hoping this is a mistake and am having further testing this week, but I'm A-symptomatic and have been on many dives prior to finding this out.

Anyone have any advice? Cardiac ablation?

Sara

Possibly, but in generally, no issues, no treatment. Not until an episode of any history of spontaneous fast heart beat will there be an issue.

However, optimal evaluation includes consultation with a dive doc and an electrophysiologist. Ablation will cure the issue, but often it takes several attempts to get it right.

Ideally, during exercise there is resolution of the delta wave, to suggest the accessory pathway in not used during exertion.

The reason for the further evaluation is the risk of a spontaneous tachycardia while in water or a distant diving location. Without special equipment, an unresolved complication can be serious. A dive boat with a AED would be the minimum needed to intervene. However, the likelihood of such events occuring are small, if there is no prior history of an event occuring or if further 'risk stratification' was done, by the EPS doc, to assess the lower risk status.

Its is possible to treat WPW with drugs, and this can be done say prophylactically only during dives holidays to reduce risk further if ablation is not considered. In addition, avoidance of certain drugs, supplements and foods are advised to further reduce risk.