Sick Sinus Syndrome - 1 year post OHS

[lgurevitch]

Hello VR Friends,
It's been quite a while since I posted here.

Quick history on me...I was diagnosed with bicuspid aortic valve approximately 2002. I had my first Aortic Valve Replaceement surgey on July 8, 2009. During surgery they found that I had another (rare) defect with my aortic root. Unfortunately I had to have antother Aortic Valve and Root replacement on July 12, 2010 (1 year and 4 days after the 1st surgery).

So here I am 13 months after my 2nd sugery. I went for my 6 month checkup with my cardiologist. He did an echo and EKG and blood work. All looked fine.

I told him I had been feeling some palpataions and a pounding heart beat for a while (actually I think it has been a few months). He had me wear a 48 hour holter monitor.

I just spoke with the nurse and she said I had a few "PVCs" which were fine. But the monitor also showed a lot of episodes of tachacardia (fast heartbeat) and bradycardia (slow heartbeat). At one point my heartbeat was over 200 (while I was sleeping) and got down as low as 37 at one point as well. She compared it with my last 48 hour holter from 6 months ago and saw some of the same (but not quite as bad) on that one.

I did see an electrophysiologist last fall and he recommended a "wait and see" approach based on the fact that I was feeling OK (and doing cardiac rehab at the time). He did say they could do an "EP Study" to further pinpoint where the electrical problems may be coming from. At the time I did not want to further subjec myself to anymore invasive procedures.

My cardiologist has said that it looks like I have "sick sinus syndrome" and more specifically "tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome". He has already sent my holter monitor to the electrophysiologist and has a call into him to further discuss my case.

My questions are...
Has anyone experienced this 1 year (or more) post surgery?
What are your experiences?
Have you had an EP Study?
Not to get too far ahead of myself at this time, but I there may be a pacemaker in my future.

Thanks for your words of advice and information.

Liz Gurevitch

 

[Julian]

Wow I'm sorry you had to endure 2 surgeries so close together. I hope overall your feeling fine. I know people have had various arriythmia problems following surgery for years most not too dangerous. I had heart block after surgery so a week after AVR they put a pacemaker in me at 28 years old. 3 weeks out of surgery I still get funky feelings in my chest though they seem to get less every week. And overall my heart is too high at rest and sometimes for no reason it spikes to 120's maybe higher for a while, but again this is becoming less overtime.

I'm going into all this because in the event that you need a pacemaker its not too bad. Of course let's try to avoid it but if you need it then get it. Overtime it will become a part of you. I encourage you to stay on top of this and get a solid answer from your doctors sooner than later. Those huge swing in heart rate are a little alarming at a year out of surgery.

 

[epstns]

Liz - I don't know if what I have would be termed "sick sinus syndrome" but even before surgery I had what one cardio called "brady-tachycardia." My resting heart rate would go pretty low (mid-40's) but with exercise it easily went up into the mid-150's. I had aortic valve replacement at the end of February and right after surgery my heart rate and rhythm were all over the map. From very high rate to very low, then some long (15 to 20-second) pauses. It is not a good thing to watch your own monitor go "flat-line." Five days post-op we decided that medication was not going to sufficiently control my heart rhythm, so we opted for a pacemaker.

The pacemaker has now been in place over five months. I have almost completed a 12-week monitored cardiac rehab course and have been "cleared" to go back to my usual jogging at the health club. I would say that at the present time I feel better and can do more than I could do in the months (years?) before surgery. Life is good.

I mention all this just in case you find that a pacemaker is recommended. This is not something to be afraid of. It is merely a "speed bump" on the highway of life. It is a device that is put in place and gets checked periodically for performance and remaining battery life. These checks are done through a sensor that is just placed over the pacer and reads the data through your skin and clothing. Not a big deal at all. For me, the toughest part of the whole thing is picking the dates for appointments. Some people call their pacemakers the "angels on their shoulders" because the little thing is always there watching and it steps in to keep things in line if your internal pacing misses a beat.