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Question:
If one has 5-6 episodes of SVT in a year, would you recommend ablation or staying on medication?
PLEASE HELP - I am a 48-year-old woman, 30 lbs overweight. I've had bouts of PAC/PVC [premature atrial contractions, premature ventricular contractions] and SVT [supraventricular tachycardia] for over 22 years now. The PAC/PVC I can deal with but the SVT with beats over 200 drive me insane. My SVT usually occurs out of the blue or along with stress or position changes - and the longest episode lasting about an hour before my metoprolol kicked in. If someone only has 5 or 6 episodes of SVT in a year would you recommend and ablation or would it be safer to stay on the drugs for life? The thoughts of ablation are extremely scary to me, though I would love for this condition to be cured forever! Thank you.
submitted by Delia from Kansas on 11/09/2014
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Abdi Rasekh, MD
You are an excellent candidate for ablation. The first line of therapy is ablation with success rate of more than 98% and risk of <1%.
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Updated November 2014
