SVT

SVT (supra ventricular tachycardia)

by Gemita - 2023-06-25 03:32:18

Hello Powerpulse, I note you don’t have a pacemaker although you continue to have 3+ second pauses according to your Bio and latest Zio patch monitoring which are mainly occurring at night.

You ask specifically about frequent, short SVT episodes which don't seem to bother you.  Yes I too have SVT which is a tachy arrhythmia starting in the upper chambers of the heart.  I have had confirmed episodes of Multi Focal Atrial Tachycardia, Atrial Flutter and Atrial Fibrillation which would all come under the umbrella of an SVT.  There are many types of SVT and your doctor will need to identify the exact type you have and from where it originates, to treat it successfully. 

I chose not to have an ablation for my arrhythmias, choosing instead medication treatment and a pacemaker to treat my sick sinus node disease.  My pacemaker alone has been an excellent treatment for me to help control my symptoms which were being caused primarily by slowing, pausing heart beats prior to any arrhythmia onset.  Although a pacemaker cannot stop an arrhythmia, it is an effective treatment for bradycardia and various degrees of heart block.

My doctors are generally not concerned about short episodes of an atrial tachy arrhythmia, particularly if the heart rate is well controlled and I am relatively symptom free and protected from an arrhythmia related stroke.  Should I become symptomatic, with high heart rates, then that would signal a need for further intervention. 

I note you had a Maze ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.  Unfortunately an ablation is not always a long term curative option for an atrial tachy arrhythmia like Atrial Fibrillation and it may take several attempts to control this difficult rhythm disturbance.  It could be that it is surfacing again as a new atrial tachy arrhythmia.  This can happen.  Sometimes when one arrhythmia is successfully ablated it may unmask another arrhythmia, so you may need another ablation or further treatment.

I note your complex medical history:  a large hole in the heart requiring open heart surgery, Maze ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and ? closure of the Left Atrial Appendage to try to prevent clot formation during episodes of AF.  I see your sinus node was damaged during the Maze procedure and that you now have Sick Sinus Syndrome (SSS) and ectopic atrial rhythm, a stable rhythm according to your doctors which doesn’t yet require pacemaker support?   In your shoes I would probably feel safer with a pacemaker. 

Are you taking any rate control meds to calm your SVT or are you able to safely perform vagal manoeuvres to try to stop it should it worsen?   I am taking a low dose beta blocker, Bisoprolol to calm my arrhythmias.  However with SSS without pacemaker support, taking a beta blocker would reduce your heart rate even more, potentially triggering worsening pauses.  I hope therefore you continue to be symptom free with your SVT, but if not, you may need a pacemaker so that you can safely receive rate lowering meds or other treatments to try stop this arrhythmia, without fear of reducing your heart rate to too low a level

Without symptoms

by Selwyn - 2023-06-25 08:32:46

A bit of extra atrial activity is normal. If these are short ( seconds- a few minutes),  and you are without symptoms, it is nothing to be bothered about.  That is why your doctor did not say anything about them.

You may want to consider the effect of caffeine, alcohol, some  drugs/mediction, fatigue,  and exercise as this may bring on such atrial extra activity. 

Medical procedures always put you at risk of complications. 

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/supraventricular-tachycardia-svt/

SVT

by AgentX86 - 2023-06-25 23:17:30

SVT just means a tachycardia from somewhere above (supra) the ventricles. There are a lot of things it could be, though AF and AFL are pretty obvious so these are easy to separate from other arrhythmias.

Maze is the gold standard of AF "fixes" but sometimes gold isn't so shiny. It doesn't really do anything for other arrhythmias.  The idea of a maze is to section theatrium into blocks so errant electrical signals are isolated.  This doesn't really help with other arrhythmias. Mine did fix the AF but I paid for it with permanent AFL (not a good trade).  It's good that they took care of your LAA, too.  Did they remove it, or "clip" it.  Its removal would be odd.

A 3-4 second pause isn't enough to gety anyone worked up over.  The dividing line is somewhere in the 5-6 second range. Above that is definite PM area.  Below, all other things considered, a PM isn't necessary, though these things tend to go downhill.