JadenLayne and I would like to know.......

[poohandwendy]

I don't think that ecgs would be all that helpful because not all bad rhythm problems are constantly happening, but I think echocardiograms (cardiac ultrasound) would find many of the structural defects.

 

[JadenLayne]

I had that kind of feeling on Everest but I think its because I was scared to death and it was PANIC....LOL!

I'm horrible about working myself up before riding a new ride, then to have it be NOTHING! I do it everytime I get on BTMRR. I KNOW ITS NOTHING, I'VE RIDDEN IT A ZILLION TIMES but still there I'll stand in line shaking like a leaf!

Heck I'm surprised I don't get scared going on Pooh Bear!

 

[poohandwendy]

Does this pose a risk? My brother is not taking anything for his.
Is there a familial link? I guess there must be, I just realized, my uncle also has it. Does that mean our kids are at risk, and like I already asked, is it something to worry about/get checked for?

PAT is very rarely life threatening, so I would not be concerned that someone in your family is just going to have an episode that will kill them. And it can be treated with medications and lifestyle changes.

The type of undiagnosed heart problems that are causing people to collapse and die are not usually something they ever noticed or had problems with.

 

[poohandwendy]

Any idea what would cause a person to have a feeling that they were going to "black out" on a non-looping roller coaster (I actually felt that I couldn't see for a couple seconds, but didn't feel like I'd passed out--hard to explain)? My son and I both had the same sensation on the new Italian Job Turbo Coaster at Kings Dominion recently at launch. It was bumpy at the beginning--no loops, but very fast.

I have low blood pressure and figured that along with the fast launch lowered my blood pressure even more, creating the strange feeling. I don't know if my son also has low blood pressure or not. We went on it again later, but he was fine that time. I was better, but still dizzy.

BTW, I will go on pretty much any type of coaster and the only type I don't like/can't handle are the real rough/jerky coasters because they cause migraines, so I am no ride chicken by any means. Any my son (12yo) will ride any coaster. Oh, and according to my 18yo DD, when she was at Kings Dominion earlier in the week, she had the same feeling.

That sounds like it could be an adrenaline rush thing, or vertigo or panic attack...something along that lines. Just a bodies natural reaction to the circumstances. Doesn't sound to me like anything that has to do with heart issues. Obviously, if you are having ongoing problems, you should definitely see a doctor. But it sounds like just an isolated incident, if I am reading it correctly.

 

[poohandwendy]

Fi
I do not know of any regular pediatrician that have EKG machines in the office, but I would also feel better if it could become part of the routine physical. Matter of fact, my son had surgery, mild, but still has general anesthesia.....I wish I would have thought to have the hospital run a paper strip tht I could have kept

I would think most pediatricians have ecg machines in their offices, they probably don't have them out all of the time though. But it is pretty standard piece of equipment for a PCP. (at least in my experience)

They really do not give the whole picture anyways, so having an ecg done may make you feel better...it really isn't a guarantee that there are no cardiac issues, not by any means. I think echocardiograms would be much better, if we are talking about finding a way to have rule out problems that are commonly not detected beofre death.

And I also had the same thought about long q-t syndrome. Also wolf-parkinson-white syndrome (i think that is it) could have caused a sudden death like the boy on the rollercoaster.

 

[paigevz]

PAT is very rarely life threatening, so I would not be concerned that someone in your family is just going to have an episode that will kill them. And it can be treated with medications and lifestyle changes.

The type of undiagnosed heart problems that are causing people to collapse and die are not usually something they ever noticed or had problems with.

Okay, thanks, so much in the world to worry about, I'll cross PAT off my list!

 

[Anne MN]

As a parent of a child that has a heart defect (she was born with it) the test that should be done to rule out defects is an ECHO. it is like an ultrasound but on the heart and it's "plumbing". I belong to an online group of other parents and they have been advocating every newborn be given an ECHO before discharge.
if anyone has questions- feel free to ask. I can answer some- regards to test and what they involve...

there are defects that are not serious and do not effect a persons life

 

[meshmar]

Does this pose a risk? My brother is not taking anything for his.
Is there a familial link? I guess there must be, I just realized, my uncle also has it. Does that mean our kids are at risk, and like I already asked, is it something to worry about/get checked for?

It's level of risk/danger depends a lot on what is causing the condition and just what heart rate you run when it triggers. If the rate is high enough to cause symptomatic changes (shortness of breath, syncopal or near syncopal (passsing out) episodes, etc) then it needs treatment. Otherwise, it's something they usually keep an eye on - since heart conditions don't get better normally, only worse with time/age. PAT can be the warning signs of something more serious in the future ... mine started when I was 25 and I'm now on my third pacemaker ...

Not sure about it being hereditary - mine wasn't. I would mention the family history to my children's DR and push him to do annual EKGs at least.

 

[meshmar]

About long q-t and WPW ... yes they are serious and can cause sudden death - but they are conduction deficits and would not normally be called a congenital heart defect - that's more like finding a prolapsed valve (which the echocardiagram is excellent for spotting) or cardiac myopathy. q-t or WPW aren't normally tied to a structural defect ...

 

[paigevz]

My brother did pass out as a child a few times and was rushed to ER (which, in the small town we lived in, is not an easy feat...........it involves meeting the ambulance halfway which takes 15 min, then 15 min in ambulance to the closest hospital, which normally only takes Native Americans but will take other emergencies). He learned to fill a sink with very cold water and put his face in it...........for some reason, that would put his heart back down to normal. Later he joined the army, but in boot camp on a run he had an attack, had trouble breathing and got dizzy. They discharged him.

My mother also passed out once, but now she's on meds.

My uncle also has other problems, and in fact, just got out of hospital after a triple bypass, so we couldn't really say whether his symptoms were from PAT or heart disease.

I've only had my heart race for a few seconds. It makes me feel a bit like my sinuses have flared up, and as soon as it stops I feel fine. I haven't been to the dr. for it.

DS goes for ADHD check next month. I think I'll mention it.

 

[va32h]

It is kind of spooky that we are having this discussion - I took dd10 to the dr for a physical last week - she needed one for Girl Scout camp. She's very healthy - hasn't been to the doctor since her last series of immunizations, and in fact hadn't even seen our new pediatrician yet!

Anyway, during the checkup, he listened to her heart for quite awhile. Then he said "I hear a sort of echo, has anyone ever mentioned anything like that to you before?"

He wasn't concerned, but after reading about the boy on RNRC, I am now quite paranoid! Dd loves coasters, and was looking forward to riding all of them when we go to WDW this fall.

 

[meshmar]

He learned to fill a sink with very cold water and put his face in it...........for some reason, that would put his heart back down to normal.

It stimulates the Vagus nerve which affects the heart rate. Rubbing your eyeballs 'too hard' can do the same (and drop your BP). Some people have a sensitive carotid sinus (in the neck) and a tight tie or shirt collar can cause the same.

 

[meshmar]

It is kind of spooky that we are having this discussion - I took dd10 to the dr for a physical last week - she needed one for Girl Scout camp. She's very healthy - hasn't been to the doctor since her last series of immunizations, and in fact hadn't even seen our new pediatrician yet!

Anyway, during the checkup, he listened to her heart for quite awhile. Then he said "I hear a sort of echo, has anyone ever mentioned anything like that to you before?"

He wasn't concerned, but after reading about the boy on RNRC, I am now quite paranoid! Dd loves coasters, and was looking forward to riding all of them when we go to WDW this fall.

Actually, a heart murmur is a 'normal' abnormality. Last I heard somewhere around 80% of people have one at some time in their lives. Some murmurs can point to other conditions though ... depends upon the murmur. Most are innoculous.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I have restrictive cardiomyopathy..It wasn't detected until I went into Conggestive \Heart Failure and had an echo. It is most likely caused by HIV going after the heart muscle,or even by the medications themselves.It's well controlled but sudden death could still happen at any time..As long as my echps look good I ride all rides at Disney..I'm not sure how I would react if it was my child that had it

 

[poohandwendy]

About long q-t and WPW ... yes they are serious and can cause sudden death - but they are conduction deficits and would not normally be called a congenital heart defect - that's more like finding a prolapsed valve (which the echocardiagram is excellent for spotting) or cardiac myopathy. q-t or WPW aren't normally tied to a structural defect ...

True, I only mentioned WPW and long Q-T because they are something that could have affected the boy at WDW.

I still think that it would be nice for echo's and ecg's to become routine in pediatric well visits (not every visit, but on occasion throughout childhood) because many times structural and/or rhythm problems are not detected until sudden death.

 

[poohandwendy]

I had a heart murmur when I was born and outgrew it, very common. I now have Psvts which were helped tremendously with RF catheter ablation. There are many 'benign' heart conditions, I would recommend getting a good cardiologist if there are structural problems and a good electrophysiologist for cardiac rhythm (electrical) issues.

 

[barkley]

such a tragic event. i believe there are some medical defects or conditions that are not dectected or even thought to be looked for unless a patient begins to demonstrate symptoms. in those situations, unfortunatly, the symptoms may occur only immediatly prior to death. the college several of our neices/nephew's attend had a young man collapse during a basketball game and die-no family history of heart problems, no prior symptoms, nothing ever detected beforehand. in this type of case there was realy nothing anyone could have done to prevent it from happening.

i do think it's prudent to look at one's (or your child's) family history medicaly and make your doctor aware so they can educate you/keep an eye on seemingly non worrysome symptoms that may be related to a certain disease/condition. and i would not ignore certain issues that one tends to dismiss because the family members did not encounter them until they were "old", aging may increase the chances of certain things but a genetic predisposition can be a major factor in ever suffering something. i use myself as an example-i had 2 strokes in my early 40's with seemingly nothing that would have been an indicator (no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol...), but after the fact in talking to family we began to realize the large number of family members who had suffered/died from strokes. while they were in their 70's and older-none had any of the markers to pre-indicate one either. armed with this information i discussed it with my doctor and neurologist who agreed that the odds that all of them having them due to "aging" just did'nt make sense.

i'm not going to stress myself or my kids out that they are "stroke prone", but i have advised their treating doctors and we do pay a bit more attention to some more common ailments-such as headaches. if there were some activities that i knew might trigger a stroke i would likely avoid or curtail their participation in these. i think if i had a family history of heart issues i would see what testing was available for detection, but in absence of that at least educate my kids on all of the ways they can promote heart health.

 

[paigevz]

Thanks for pointing that out Barkley. In fact, because all the doctors (brother's, mother's, uncle's) have said that being in optimal physical condition helps their problem, we have (dh and I) been adamant that our kids are in some sort of scheduled physical activities. We let them choose, but tell them they must choose SOMETHING. Dh and I are both overweight and relatively inactive, and knowing that our kids pay more attention to what we DO than what we SAY, we have tried to at least get involved in their activities.........practicing, coaching, swimming alongside. We've also made some dietary changes. Hasn't helped much with our weights yet, but that's because we haven't made ALL the changes we should (still eat out too much, I still cook too "Southern", still have too many tortillas at meals, still indulge sweet tooth too often). It has helped some, though, Dh has come down 20 lbs and I have yoyoed a bit more, but am still 25 lbs down. Dh has another issue, and his drs. have also asked him to make some changes to try to achieve optimal health, so that kind of spurred us on when we were flagging.

By the way, my father had a major stroke when I was 9 and he was 43. He was in the hospital for a very long time (at least it seemed to me) and was permanently disabled.

 

[CJRN]

americanheart.org has some good info.

I wasn't sure of statistics, but considering what I found, I also agree ALL newborns should be tested before going home. I guess the cost would make this prohibitive. I do know when I worked in newborn nursery, the babies had a lot of bloodwork for routine state bloodwork as well as hearing tests.

"Long QT syndrome is an uncommon, and sometimes fatal, heart rhythm disorder that is often present from birth. It gets its name from the peculiar pattern of the electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) seen in people with the disease. It affects one in every 3,000 people in the United States. If untreated, half the people with symptomatic LQTS will die within 10 years after the first symptoms are noticed. People at risk of LQTS include children, teenagers and young adults with unexplained fainting, near drowning, seizures or a history or a history of cardiac arrest."

 

[Tigger&Belle]

That sounds like it could be an adrenaline rush thing, or vertigo or panic attack...something along that lines. Just a bodies natural reaction to the circumstances. Doesn't sound to me like anything that has to do with heart issues. Obviously, if you are having ongoing problems, you should definitely see a doctor. But it sounds like just an isolated incident, if I am reading it correctly.

But both of us love the rides and aren't scared in the least. I'm not thinking heart in our cases as much as low blood pressure (which I really haven't taken seriously). I've only had something similar happen one other time--one time on Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure. I'll be at Kings Dominion another time or two this summer, so I'll see how I react the other times.