The Heart of the Matter

Back in August of last year and again in January of this year, Brad had an issue with his heart. Both times, Brad came to me and said that his heart was hurting him and he felt like he was having a heart attack. Each time we called the doctor and they advised that he was probably having this heart issue due to dehydration. Both times, it did go away after about an hour. After the last episode in January, he was scheduled for his 6 year check up the following week. I brought this up with his pediatrician and she was going to send us to a pediatric cardiologist to get a baseline EKG, so that if the rapid heartbeat was to happen again, we would have something to go from. At the end of January, we met with the pediatric cardiologist. First came the EKG and the nurse saw something on it and asked the doctor to see us then instead of waiting 6 months to be seen. As soon as the cardiologist listened to Brad's heart in the stethoscope, he stated that Brad has WPW. This means that he has an extra electrical pathway in his heart. This condition can lead to episodes of rapid heart beats. Normally, electrical signals in the heart go through a pathway that helps the heart beat regularly. The wiring of the heart prevents extra beats from occurring and keeps the next beat from happening too soon. In people with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, there is an extra, or accessory, pathway that may cause a very rapid heart rate. This is called supraventricular tachycardia. The doctor then sent us across the hall to have a Doppler sonogram done on Brad's heart. It was then discovered that Brad also has Ebstein's Anomaly. Ebstein's anomaly is a rare heart defect in which parts of the tricuspid valve are abnormal. The tricuspid valve separates the right lower heart chamber (right ventricle) from the right upper heart chamber (right atrium). The condition is congenital, which means it is present from birth. At this point, I am beyond scared and worried about what will happen to Brad. The doctor stated that at this point, Brad's valve is not leaking so there is not much concern. He will monitor Brad and see him about every 4 months. The doctor also put Brad on a heart monitor for a month. He was to wear this all the time, except for bathing and sleeping. Brad was a real trooper with the monitor. He had to press a button every time he felt like his heart was beating fast and the monitor would record his heart rate for 90 seconds. We then had to transmit the readings over the phone. As of now, things are good and I haven't heard from his cardiologist regarding the readings. No news is good news at this point!