Cooper had WPW

The following week, he had surgery — which involves running a catheter from the groin to the heart — to correct the problem.


:eek::ooo::shocked::puke::wtf:
 
According to wikipedia,
The incidence of WPW syndrome is between 0.9 and 3% of the general population.
Sudden death due to WPW syndrome is rare (incidence of less than 0.6%)
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Is sudden death for 6 people out of 1000 considered rare?
 
kevinw33 said:
What on God's green earth is that.
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off the top of my head...

Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

What is the heart's normal condition? In a normal heart, electrical signals use only one path when they move through the heart. This is the atrio-ventricular or A-V node. As the electrical signal moves from the heart's upper chambers (the atria) to the lower chambers (the ventricles), it causes the heart to beat. For the heart to beat properly, the timing of the electrical signal is important.
What is the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome?
If there's an extra conduction pathway, the electrical signal may arrive at the ventricles too soon. This condition is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). It's in a category of electrical abnormalities called "pre-excitation syndromes."
It's recognized by certain changes on the electrocardiogram, which is a graphical record of the heart's electrical activity. The ECG will show that an extra pathway or shortcut exists from the atria to the ventricles.
Many people with this syndrome who have symptoms or episodes of tachycardia (rapid heart rhythm) may have dizziness, chest palpitations, fainting or, rarely, cardiac arrest. Other people with WPW never have tachycardia or other symptoms. About 80 percent of people with symptoms first have them between the ages of 11 and 50.
How is this syndrome treated?
People without symptoms usually don't need treatment. People with episodes of tachycardia can often be treated with medication. But sometimes such treatment doesn't work. Then they'll need to have more tests of their heart's electrical system.
The most common procedure used to interrupt the abnormal pathway is radiofrequency or catheter ablation. In this, a flexible tube called a catheter is guided to the place where the problem exists. Then that tissue is destroyed with radiofrequency energy, stopping the electrical pathway. Successful ablation ends the need for medication. Whether a person will be treated with medication or with an ablation procedure depends on several factors. These include the severity and frequency of symptoms, risk for future arrhythmias and patient preference.
 
I have had two of them, One in Buffalo and One at Piedmont. Still didn't cure me but I'm not in fib/flutter as much as I used to be. Easy on the caffenine, stay of sugar, stay stress and alcohol free (which isn't going to happen) other than that I feel just dandy. Coop will be fine, can't wait to see him back out there.
 
refrigeratormover said:
I have had two of them, One in Buffalo and One at Piedmont. Still didn't cure me but I'm not in fib/flutter as much as I used to be. Easy on the caffenine, stay of sugar, stay stress and alcohol free (which isn't going to happen) other than that I feel just dandy. Coop will be fine, can't wait to see him back out there.
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Fib flutter is slightly different, RM -- but it is the same procedure. WPW can kill you but the incidence is much less than what wikipedia says, imo. My textbooks say the incidence of cases of wpw is less than .4%, and less than half of cases are discovered by sudden death.

The Jacket said:
wat no
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As yellow physics said, not as bad as it sounds. That is why I do not call this surgery, but a procedure. There is a vein that runs down your leg called the femoral vein(see pic below). We enter it, and run the catheter (small tube) up to your heart, and then use electrocautery to burn parts of your heart to create scar tissue, as scar tissue does not conduct electricity.
n5551133.jpg

BTW, funny joke once in line with what you said. A guy from Pakistan was in fellowship with me. First day of catheterizations he was doing a procedure on a big black guy. And he said (before putting a small lidocaine needle in the skin above the vein) and I quote " You are about to feel a little prick in your groin." Guy jumps off the table and starts screaming "The hell you won't"

Yukonwreck said:
Had?? That implies that it's a thing of the past? Good as new?
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If the EP who did the ablation is good (and I know most of the ones in Atlanta -- and they are) then yes, he should be cured and good as new. He was born with an extra pathway in his heart. The analogy I like to use is that there is only one highway to get from the top of the heart to the bottom with the electrical signal -- and that highway has a toll booth to slow traffic down (the AV node). Well, WPW is a way to avoid the highway by taking a side road -- that may be slower than the highway in most places -- it has no toll booth, so no traffic jam. The ablation should have destroyed that side road.
 
Yes, Fib and Flutter aren't different Doc. I've been in both at one time or the other while on the table getting a ekg at Piedmont. They've showed me the difference. When first diagnosed in Buffalo in 91 I was in Fib and rushed straight to the emergency room during my yearly physical. Right now I go mostly into flutter from what the docs tell me. I've actually gotten off of two meds with no problems, knock on wood.
 
refrigeratormover said:
Yes, Fib and Flutter aren't different Doc. I've been in both at one time or the other while on the table getting a ekg at Piedmont. They've showed me the difference. When first diagnosed in Buffalo in 91 I was in Fib and rushed straight to the emergency room during my yearly physical. Right now I go mostly into flutter from what the docs tell me. I've actually gotten off of two meds with no problems, knock on wood.
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No I meant fib/flutter is different than WPW. The procedure is the same -- but fib/flutter is not as life threatening as WPW is. That is all I meant.
 
Probably higher than that of all incidences are SCD. But less than half of incidences, imo. Probably around 20% of incidence of WPW is SCD--but that is just my anecdotal experience and not data driven.
 
Damn MD- you could have had LOTS of fun with the "catheter from the groin to the heart" comment.
 
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