Mechanical valve - irregular heartbeat

[UWMike]

It's been a little while since I've been on here. I had a St. Jude mechanical valve put in 11 months ago and I've since noticed on occasion that every once in a while I'll have what I can only think to describe as a minor arrhythmia. It'll be very quick, usually a single double-beat (phonetically: click---click---click-click----click---click... ) and I noticed it tends to happen most often upon breathing out, and when my shoulders are slightly arched forward (ex. sleeping on my side, or just poor posture while sitting). As far as I can remember it's been sporadic since I went off of my beta-blockers about 2 months after surgery. Initially I didn't really think anything of it, but as I've been struggling with a niggling little cold for the past month, it's been enough to get me a little worried. I let my cardiologist know and I have a 24hr Holter test scheduled for this week but I was wondering if anyone on here has ever had anything similar? Any insight at all is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[dick0236]

It'll be very quick, usually a single double-beat (phonetically: click---click---click-click----click---click... )
Thanks!

I get these periodically and many others on VR.org post that they get them as well. There is a medical name for them but I forget what it is. Normally not a problem unless they persist......but they do get your attention. I believe mine occur when I get stressed....but I am not 100% sure. I had my first case of "true" A-fib a couple months ago...it lasted several hours, my pulse went to 110+ and the irregular heart beats where far different than "click--click click--click". The Holter should put your mind at ease.

 

[UWMike]

Thanks for the reply! It's always re-assuring to hear it from someone else.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

More often when I'm paying attention to it

I dont recommend you read all of that page, but diagnosis and the descriptions may set your mind at ease.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premature_ventricular_contraction

is a relatively common event where the heartbeat is initiated by Purkinje fibres in the ventricles rather than by the sinoatrial node, the normal heartbeat initiator. The electrical events of the heart detected by the electrocardiogram allow a PVC to be easily distinguished from a normal heart beat.

A PVC may be perceived as a "skipped beat" or felt as palpitations in the chest. In a normal heartbeat, the ventricles contract after the atria have helped to fill them by contracting; in this way the ventricles can pump a maximized amount of blood both to the lungs and to the rest of the body. In a PVC, the ventricles contract first and before the atria have optimally filled the ventricles with blood, which means that circulation is inefficient. However, single beat PVC arrhythmias do not usually pose a danger and can be asymptomatic in healthy individuals.[1]

 

[Ola Thoresen]

I believe a lot of the things we notice and maybe get us slightly worried are perfectly normal, even for people who have not been through surgery.
But we are of course paying a lot more attention to our hearts, and with a mechanical valve we can also often hear and feel the beats in a whole different way than others.

I hear my "double beats" and my skipped beats but I also know I had these before my valve was replaced. Your body is not a robot, and irregularities are the rule. If they happen very frequently, have a check, but remember that you are listening much more to your heart than everyone else is.

 

[UWMike]

More often when I'm paying attention to it

Funny you should mention that, because I noticed the exact same thing . After one happens, it get's my attention and I think "damn, not again" then 15 seconds later there will be another, and maybe one more after that, but as soon as I get back to doing whatever it was i was doing (and not thinking about it) it disappears. I also first remember having these a few months before my surgery, so I was inclined to think that it was related to the valve itself which is why I was surprised (and slightly concerned) when I started to have them again after having the valve replaced. Oh well, I suppose you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Thanks again.

 

[clay_from_nj]

I have had the same sort of thing, but bad enough that sometimes they came frequently enough that I would feel other effects, lightheaded, slightly dizzy, a little "off". I told my cardio and he put me on a 48-hour Holter monitor (sort of a portable ECG.) After the test, he told me that it was just a case of perfectly harmless PVCs, pre-ventricular contractions, and that many people get them and don't even know it, and that they are often exacerbated by stress, like the stress of having them in the first place. I can usually alleviate mine with some brisk exercise, and they seem to be getting less frequent and bothersome over time. If you have any concerns at all, contact your doctor, he won't think less of you for being concerned about something that turns out not to be a problem.

 

[Lily]

Hi Mike -

Off and on, I've also had some wild post-op heart rhythms, including some early post-op A-fib/A-flutter. A few years later, certain things began to trigger PVCs and such, and sometimes they've been severe and overwhelming. Whatever makes the bubbles in sparkling drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, can trigger a severe PVC attack for me, like tens of thousands of PVCs a day :eek2: And I think I'm more vulnerable to mineral imbalances, post valve replacement, also. I try to pay more attention to that now.

I'm ten years post-op now and the rhythm issues were worse for me a few years post-op than now. Also, I don't know if my experience is unique but I found that taking additional beta blockers for the arrhythmias was only necessary for a week or two at a time to bump me out of the patterns of rhythm issues; otherwise the beta blockers are just too strong for me and make me have a dull brain and a bad headache.

Anyway, there's another experience, for what it's worth. Take care

 

[kiltedscotsman]

I also experienced this very shortly after my AVR surgery with a mechanical valve. It got so bad - generally only two normal beats before some sort of flutter - that I finally went to the nearest ER to have it checked. Like you, mine would be worsened by breathing out or arching my shoulders / bending down. Oddly, breathing in deeply and holding my breath tended to even it out into a normal rhythm for 10-12 beats. After an EKG, X-ray, blood test (for electrolytes and other factors) they advised me it was harmless PVC's and A-flutter that should correct in due time. They were right, as uncomfortable as I was for a week or so following that, they cleared up and a normal rhythm resumed.

 

[Protimenow]

I had PATs (paroxysman atrial tachycardia), episodes where the heart starts racing and it feels like the blood pressure spikes. The heart can be going around 120-180 or so beats a minute. I started getting them a decade or so before my surgery. I was told that it was nothing to be stressed about, and they even told me how to (perhaps) stop one of these episodes. I went into my surgery, hoping that this would take care of the PATs and that I wouldn't have them again, once my valve was replaced.

I had them again, while still in the hospital, just days after my surgery. There wasn't much that they could do about them then -- and there isn't much they can do about them now. I STILL get them. Since starting a low dose beta blocker a few weeks ago, it seems as if I get them slightly more often than before I went on the beta blockers.

The PATs are, of course, PVCs, but either one can be somewhat scary. As others have said, don't worry much about them. People get them - good hearts or not, pre-or -post-surgery or not. It happens. They probably won't kill us (the PATs I get can sometimes keep going for five or ten minutes - if's comforting when they stop).

The heart surgery that you've had probably didn't contribute to the conditions that caused your PVC--if it did, it's probably a tradeoff that's worthwhile, considering the potentially improved quality of life that you're experiencing post-op.

 

[catwoman]

Everybody gets PVCs. Because of our being cardiac patients, we notice them more readily than other people. I had them years before my MVR and probably long before I was diagnosed with prolapse. People with normal heart function will occasionally get them.
They're only a problem if they are constant or very frequent.
Best to determine to rule out anything more than PVCs.

 

[Luana]

I had afib in the hosptial and a few brief episodes once I was home. I do get some irregular beats now and then, but always go back to normal fairly quickly, like less than 30 seconds, so don't think it's a concern.

I first had PVCs years ago when I had endocarditis, and have had them off and on since, though not very frequently. They feel very different to me since VR, not sure if others have that. Last day I was in the hospital, I watched the monitor a lot, and every time I had a short run of PVCs, they felt nothing like they did before surgery.

It's good you're getting checked out, Mike. Hope it all works out to be nothing of concerned.

 

[ski girl]

I'm two years post op with a much valve and I get the same thing several times a day. It doesn't correlate to anything and I don't worry about them at all. I didn't even tell my cardio about them!