Svt. Anybody? | Imamother

amother

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 12:21 pm

My 10 year old dd was just diagnosed with stv. I would love to hear from others. Please share your experience.
How often do you have an episode?
How do you stabilize it?
Did you have ablation done?
And anything else I may not know yet.
Thanks.

amother

Lavender

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 12:53 pm

My brother had SVT since a toddler. As a kid it was just like a heart rate of 150-180 for 10 minutes or so. He would avoid caffeine, try to avoid inhalers (he has asthma), and put ice on his face. There are many moves you can do (knees to chest, ice on face, blowing etc. But speak to your child's doctor about it.) Doctor said it was just a nuisance and to leave it alone; however, he technically said you should go to the hospital when it occured (but that wasn't practical). As a teen his heart rate would often exceed 250 for 45 minutes or more a few times a week. He finally decided to do an ablation and it worked very well BH. Any specific questions?

amother

Rose

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 1:37 pm

We discovered my son had SVT at age 15. It typically shows up at birth or when the child has a major growth spurt in their teens (more often in boys). After considering all medical options and talking to an adult cardiologist too we opted for the ablation and have been very happy. It’s an easy outpatient procedure-our frum doctor who specializes in this and is one of the best in the country-doesn’t even consider this real surgery. He was up and about immediately and a year later hasn’t had a single symptom.
Our doctor helped develop the current technology for this procedure. She explained to me that years ago when open heart surgery was necessary to correct this, it was not recommended to do this procedure, but to take medicine to control the heart rate. Now that this minimally invasive procedure has been developed its riskier to drive a car as a teen than to have this procedure-her words.
I’d be happy to figure out a way to speak privately if you have questions, or you can post here.

amother

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 2:19 pm

amother [ Rose ] wrote:

Did he have his first svt episode at age 15?

amother

Rose

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 2:55 pm

His first symptom began around a year before diagnosis. He absolutely did not have this as a child. He did a number of tests including an EKG and a running test to rule out serious conditions, chas v’sholom. He wore a portable monitor for about a week until they could capture an episode as it occurred. Once that happened, as a precaution he went on medication until we decided to do the procedure. Since the procedure requires the doctor to induce an episode to locate the place to do the ablation, he was only on the beta blockers for a very short time.
IMHO I wouldn’t recommend ignoring this or treating it just like a nuisance. This could become dangerous if the heart doesn’t stop racing and it could lead to serious heart damage in some people. Not everyone opts for surgery but make sure to talk to a pediatric cardiologist who is familiar with modern treatments, invasive and non invasive.

amother

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 3:09 pm

How did they miss the diagnosis when he had his first symptom?

My daughter is currently on a monitor as well. We have an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist next week and I guess we’ll become a little smarter.

amother

Lavender

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 4:54 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

The doctors need to catch it while it is in action and it may be hard to replicate. They also need to rule out other conditions. My brother is happy he had the procedure and has BH not had any SVT episodes since, but he does have a high heart rate in general (95-105) and has some minor palpitations a few times a year (think like 120 for 3 minutes) but that is very common after the procedure. His procedure took just 30 minutes but the timing depends on how fast they can locate the loop.

amother

Rose

Fri, Feb 14 2020, 5:04 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

They didn’t miss it. It was more like the first number of months when it happened we dismissed it or because he only had a high heart rate, with no other craziness, BH, we weren’t worried at first. Also it happened only when he was playing intense basketball, which didn’t happen so much while he was in Yeshiva. The pediatrician was unconcerned until it was persistent over a longer length of time. Then we were referred to the cardiologist for a diagnosis.
Beta-blockers - can be used to slow down your heart rate, and improve blood flow through your body. You may take this drug if you have been diagnosed with irregular heartbeats, or high blood pressure.
My son was old enough to understand that the side effects for a male using beta blockers could affect his “performance” as a married man, somewhere in the future, iyh. That alone made him more open minded to the procedure.

amother

Ecru

Sun, Feb 16 2020, 2:48 am

Not relevant to op, but I was diagnosed with fetal svt at 28 weeks pregnant at a routine doctors visit. I was put on strong meds to stabilize baby’s heart rate and bh they were able to stabilize it and carried preg.to full term. After birth my son was put on meds which they slowly weaned off it at abt 9 months. He’s currently a very active and adorable two year old. I was told by his doctor that at abt his preteen age it can come back but so far I’m not worrying about that just yet. We used Dr Pass. He is currently in mount Sinai and is supposed to be top in the area of ablations.

amother

Sun, Feb 16 2020, 8:37 am

amother [ Ecru ] wrote:

I’ve heard all about Dr. Pass.
I have an appointment with him this week