Submitted by Dr T on November 22, 2011 – 10:29am in Cardiac Risks Question: Recently my both feet were swelling and I consulted with a doctor. After doing color Doppler of lower limbs, the doctor referred me to a vascular surgeon. Then I consulted with a surgeon who asked me to do echo-cardiogram of abdominal. In report he found ASD …
Arrhythmia questions
Submitted by Dr T on November 21, 2011 – 5:50pm Question: What is an Arrhythmia and what causes it? Arrhythmias are caused by problems with your heart’s electrical system. The electrical signals may fire too fast or too slowly, or in an uneven (irregular) way.Arrhythmias are disorders of your heart’s electrical system, which means there is a change in …
An MI comlicated by AF and congestive heart failure
Submitted by Dr T on November 19, 2011 – 2:35pm in Chest Pain Question: Hi. My husband had his 5th heart attack on the 17th of Sept.He said this one hurt more than all the others. Do you know what makes that happen? This one was on the back side of the heart if that makes a difference.During the hosp …
Ejection Fraction at 30%
Submitted by Dr T on November 19, 2011 – 9:24am in Cardiac Risks Question: Hi,My father observed some variations in his ECG, and was taken to hospital for his checkups. His eco report read as in the following:1)Dilated left ventricle with severe genralized systolic dysfunction.2)Secondary moderate mitral regurgitation in upper normal sized left atrium.3)Thickened aortic vavle with no stenosis and …
High calcium in my coronary arteries
Submitted by Dr T on November 17, 2011 – 8:27am in Cardiac Risks Question: Three yrs ago I failed a stress test and underwent a heart catherization. 20-30% was the estimate. So I had a false positive.Two days ago I had a high res ECG synchronized computed tomography of the heart along with a full body scan. Calcium score was …
Rivaroxaban
The FDA has approved Rivaroxaban (Xarelto) for stroke reduction in people with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, following a clinical trial with more than 14,000 patients comparing it with the anti-clotting drug warfarin. In the trial, Rivaroxaban was similar to warfarin in its ability to prevent stroke. Rivaroxaba is an oral factor Xa inhibitor and like another new oral direct thrombin inhibitor …
Recurrent tachycardia after ablation for WPW
Submitted by Dr T on November 8, 2011 – 1:06pm in Your heart rhythm Question: My 16 year old son had an ablation when he was 9 for WPWS. Since then he has had many episodes of tachycardia. Over the last 4 months they have become an almost daily occurance. His HR was 253 at ER last week. His BP …
Benefits and risks associated with Statin usage
Doctors often prescribe statins for patients with high cholesterol to reduce their risk of a heart attack or stroke. Most people taking statins will take them for the rest of their lives, which can make statin side effects difficult to manage. In a patient with normal cholesterol levels and no risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular …
Increased PVCs during menopause
Submitted by Dr T on November 6, 2011 – 10:22am in Your heart rhythm Question: Hello,I am a 49 year old female. I have had pvc’s for about 24 years. I had a full work up in the beginning and again about 15 years ago. I also get yearly ekgs–last one in June. All tests wre normal. Over the years …
Bradycardia
Bradycardia (slow heartbeat) means that your heart rate is slower than 60 beats per minute, either occasionally or all the time. For some people (like athletes) a slow heart rate might be normal. In others, it may be dangerous. If you are not taking medications that slow your heart rate down, bradycardia may be caused by a blockage somewhere along …