Borderline Long QT ECG

Hi I posted on here a couple weeks ago about my son's ECG. He has been back to the cardiologist to have an ECHO done to see about the hole in his heart and he said that he has borderline long qt and needs to have further testing done. He asked about sudden deaths in our family in young people. And the only one I can think of is my aunt who was 42 and died at home from a heart attack. My older son also had a near-fatal asthma attack a few months ago and had to be revived by paramedics (now the doc thinks he might have had Long QT too). What does anyone know about borderline Long QT. I do know a bit about Long QT Syndrome and that scares me to death.

Thanks
stevie

Stevie_wonder: I have prolonged qt intervals, but so far not really a problem for me. I do know that certain meds can cause this also. Is your son currently taking other meds? If your other son is asthmatic, I hope he has a peak flow meter so you can daily monitor the asthma. Please exceuse me as I am an asthma educator and old habits die hard. My HR is usually in the 50s and when it increases even to in the 70s, it's hard to handle since I'm used to being bradycardia. Not dangerous, just feels like I'm hyper. Even over the counter meds can cause a problem in some individuals, so please inform your MD of all meds, even vitamins or herbal meds. (I'm a rare cardiac syndrome X pt w/PSVTs, prolonged PR intervals, MVP, and intermittent A-Fib -- sounds scarry, but not really since meds control everything.) With everything I have, my heart has been pronounced strong and healthy (I've had 2 caths & one attempted abblation -- completely clear coronary artery). I'm 52 yrs old and until a PVL (brain, not heart) exacerbation, I could speed walk and run up 5 flights of stairs w/no problem -- exercise is good for the heart (make sure you ck w/MD before starting any exercise program). Good luck! Go under Merck.com and you'll find a lot of answers to your questions.

Hi, thanks pegleg for the info. Yes my older son has a peal flow meter. He is on daily Flovent and it is working fairly well for him. He hasn't had a life threatening attack since, just the same old. I am just fairly concerned about the Long QT because of the risk factor for children aged 8-14 years with sudden death. Does you ECG always show a prolonged QT, is it from your asthma meds as my 9 year old is also an asthmatic. My 9 year old also has inverted T-waves that seemed to be concerning to the cardiologist but he didn't say too much yet until he confers with the ped cardiologist.

Stevie_wonder: My son is the one w/asthma (19 yrs old --- healthy as a horse); I am a respiratory therapist and asthma instructor. My cardiologist says my heart muscles are very healthy, but it's my electrical system that gives me problems. He still doesn't know for sure if its my heart meds & BP meds causing the complex or simply my "electrical system" ... I think it's just my electrical system because most of the time it shows up on the EKG, and a few times no. I also have 2nd degree heart block, MVP, intermittent A-Fib (coumadin therapy), and something called Cardiac Syndrome X where the tiny arteries in the heart spasm. Don't worry though because there are meds that can easily control this. My heart used to feel like starting up an old car, then the right meds were found and I have gone from feeling "little strange things" to feeling nothing at all ... not even at a full cardiac workout on the track. What type of sinus rhythm do your sons have? I know how it feels to worry about our kids hearts. My son's hands turn deep purple for no reason and at times he experiences chest pain. I made him start eating healthier (too much Taco Bell, etc) and the chest pain has decreased a great deal. Still I always worry if he inherited my heart problems (heart problems run on my Dad's side of the family). I had a hard time when he was younger wanting to overprotect him. He was a speed skater, played baseball, etc. (very active in sports). Hard for me to handle because his asthma was very serious when he was younger. I just educated him on how to handle his asthma, etc. and let him be a kid. I guess I did okay because now he's 6', fixing to start USM college, and I can't remember the last time he even had a cold. Do you have a CPR book? The book contains all the usual rhythms and explains them. I think it's a book every family should have. No one ever knows when they may have to use CPR on either a relative or a total stranger. Good luck on your sons examinations.

pegleg: My son is also 19 years and healthy as a horse (other than asthma). He is going to school to be a Paramedic. He is also very active in sports. He always played hockey, baseball, golf, he still plays on senior hockey team and also on a rec team during the week to stay in shape. We had a good ped doc that encouraged him to be in anything that he wanted. My younger guy is much like his older brother, also into hockey, ball and golf. It is just a little more worriesome right now because he is not any meds yet and we are not sure about his heart yet. They are still deciding if the atrial septal defect needs to be repaired and that that might be what is causing the Long QTs. Hopefully it isn't Long QT Syndrome because that is something that can only be controlled but not fixed. I have a big family with a lot of different heart problems so our cardiologist is checking out the Syndrome with genetic testing just to be sure. Yes, I do keep up with my CPR classes every couple of years. I used to have a day care in my home so I felt I should have it. My son's near-fatal asthma attack that he had in March 2006 is already being used as an example at the Paramedic school that my son is attending. The teacher didn't believe my son at first until he brought in the newspaper article that did a story on my son. They wanted to get the word out about not treating asthma serious.
Thanks for the support