Might have SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia)?

Question

I am only 18 years old and my doctor thinks I have SVT but she has referred me to a cardiologist for confirmation. What tests am I to expect when seeing this cardiologist and should I be worried? Are all these tests to occur on the first visit or not?

Answer 1

I have supraventricular tachycardia and I am also a registered nurse. I developed supraventricular tachycardia when I was 18 yrs old just like you.
Supraventricular tachycardia is a heart rate over 150.
Sometimes these very fast heart rates come in spurts and sometimes your heart beat will go up and stay there. Most likely, the cardiologist will want to do a 24 or 48 hour holter monitor which is basically a few leads attached which monitors your heartbeat for 24 or 48 hours, somtimes they do them for longer. If you walk into his office and your heart rate is fast (over 100) he will want to do an EKG, If your heart beat is not fast, they will probably do one anyway. This is just a test to see on paper the electrical activiity of your heart for about a minute in time. They accomplish this by attaching 12 leads to your naked chest and they will ask you to breath normally and capture your heartbeat from several different view points. It is totally painless. These are routinely done every day. This test will tell the doctor where in your heart your fast heart beat is coming from.
You wll also probably have some blood chemistry drawn to check your thyroid and make sure your are chemically in proper order. People with thyroid problems frequently have fast heart beats as one of their 1st symptoms.
Not always, but usually , they prescribe a beta blocker depending on what is causing your SVT. A beta blocker is a pill you take to slow your heart down to normal rate. Many people take beta blockers.
I had SVT for years before they had high technology and just last October was cured by having a radiofrequency ablation. I was not able to control my SVT with medication and it was a last resort. I had to see an electrophysicist who diagnosed my problem and fixed it.
You will be fine. Try not to worry and in the meantime, dont drink anything caffeinated, hold off on the chocolate and no smoking. These all raise your heart rate.
Good luck. PS: I doubt they do the stress test listed by the person above because you are not having symptoms of a heart attac and they do not want to tax a heart which is already beating too fast, and a fast heart is not a sx of a heart attac. God bless you dear and I hope this helped.

Answer 2

On your first visit they will probably do a 12 lead EKG. I am sure you have aleady had one since your PCP thinks you have SVT.

An EKG is just a picture of the electrical system in your heart. Doesn't hurt a bit. Just 12 stickers and a bunch of wires.

After your initial visit, these things may happen...(not sure if all of these things will happen, or in which order...I am sure you dr. will do what's best)

The dr. may suggest a stress test. Which is simply walking on a treadmill while they take an EKG at the same time. This will be used to see if they can induce the SVT.

The dr. may also suggest a halter monitor. This is when you have an mini EKG machine recording your heart rate for an extened period of time (i.e. 24 hours, 48 hours etc.) It is the size of a walkman and the stickers just attach to your chest. It works well, if you have an episode of SVT.

If it proves that you do actually have SVT four things may happen.

One, you get a pacemaker...not so bad either.

Two, nothing, because it does not happen too often, or your symptoms are not bad.

Three, medication

Four, ablation....an SVT occurs when there is an extra pathway in your heart. Ablation is when the doctors purposly induce your SVT and find that pathway and "burn it" (ablate) so there is no longer a pathway.

This is a great web site. It uses plain language and is easy to understand. You can also default to the good old webmd.com

http://www.americanheart.org

Good luck

Answer 3

Hello
I would not let yourself get upset over this. First the Dr. will want an EKG to establish a baseline see what is happinging at the moment. Then most likely he will have a holter monitor put on you. This is a recorder about the sizr of a "walkman" and records your heart activity for a 24 hour period. Hopefully they capture some of the irregular heart beats and then they can determine what is going on.

By the way SVT is a fancy term for;

"Fast heart beat that starts at the top of the heart."

Supra = above
Ventricular = bottom half of the heart
Tachy = fast
Cardia = heart