Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome, yup, that's me. It killed a college ball player about twenty years ago, killed a high school player just a few years ago:
I was about 40 years old, and would have tachycardia under a very specific set of circumstances. As in, 30 minutes after exercise, heart rate was still at 140bpm. One stress test later, it was off to get that ablation.
My wife calls it "heart surgery", and I guess technically it is. It's about as easy a "surgery" as you're going to get: lie on a table, get the catheter, half hour later you're done. Stay overnight to make sure you don't bleed out from the catheter site, back home like nothing happened.
If it is suggested to you to get this done, do it, it is super-easy as far as invasive procedures go, and it could save your life. 20 years post-surgery, and I still run ultramarathon trail races, and haven't had a problem since.
This procedure changed my life. I had two radio frequency ablations in Calgary in the mid 2000s when I was 16 to cure PSVT. They did an electrophysiology study during the first surgery to determine it was dual AV node syndrome, which was one of the best case scenarios. If I had been born a few decades earlier this would have required open heart surgery. The crazy thing about this surgery was that I only had to lie flat for a few days and rest for a week before going back to playing football. No scars, no side-effects.
An interesting side note is that I was awake and high on valium for both surgeries. I remember them inducing the tachycardia with adrenalin and some stimulation during the first surgery and saying "yup there it is" out loud.
As far as surgeries go, this one is easy as hell on your body even if it's performed on your God damn heart! Genuinely life changing and haven't had a real issue in the decade since (occasional flutters are annoying, but expected). Sure as hell beats taking daily meds and an annual-ish episode which results in you getting pumped full of adenosine.
Considering that the alternative is "crack open your rib cage, open up your heart, poke around a bit and hope we get it right", yeah, an hour lying on a table while the cardiologist plays your choice of music on the speakers is a nice option.
> He spent the next three years pursuing this vision.
I had the chance to try this procedure out when I was 20, and it saved my life. Without it there is a high chance I would be dead. And it is because he had an idea that he pursued.
It is fascinating what modern medicine is capable of.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/community-aims-raise-a...
I was about 40 years old, and would have tachycardia under a very specific set of circumstances. As in, 30 minutes after exercise, heart rate was still at 140bpm. One stress test later, it was off to get that ablation.
My wife calls it "heart surgery", and I guess technically it is. It's about as easy a "surgery" as you're going to get: lie on a table, get the catheter, half hour later you're done. Stay overnight to make sure you don't bleed out from the catheter site, back home like nothing happened.
If it is suggested to you to get this done, do it, it is super-easy as far as invasive procedures go, and it could save your life. 20 years post-surgery, and I still run ultramarathon trail races, and haven't had a problem since.
An interesting side note is that I was awake and high on valium for both surgeries. I remember them inducing the tachycardia with adrenalin and some stimulation during the first surgery and saying "yup there it is" out loud.
As far as surgeries go, this one is easy as hell on your body even if it's performed on your God damn heart! Genuinely life changing and haven't had a real issue in the decade since (occasional flutters are annoying, but expected). Sure as hell beats taking daily meds and an annual-ish episode which results in you getting pumped full of adenosine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catheter_ablation
I had the chance to try this procedure out when I was 20, and it saved my life. Without it there is a high chance I would be dead. And it is because he had an idea that he pursued.
It is fascinating what modern medicine is capable of.