Controlling PSVT Symptoms

PSVTs, or paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardias, are generally quite bothersome, but almost never life-threatening. The only time when PSVTs can pose serious danger is in the rare setting of Wolff-Parkinson-White, or WPW, syndrome. This syndrome is usually picked up easily by doing a regular 12-lead electrocardiogram in the office.

With an otherwise normal heart, the management of PSVTs comes down to controlling symptoms. If the symptoms are bothersome enough, even after avoiding triggers such as caffeine, exercise, stress and sometimes alcohol, then there are a number of treatments that can be tried.

There are effective medications that can work well. An alternative to medications, if there are side effects or if taking medications is not for you, is catheter ablation. Ablation is a procedure that is done in the hospital, but patients will typically leave the same day, after four to six hours of observation. Under comfortable sedation, a thin, specialized catheter is floated up from one of the leg veins, up into the heart. Once in the heart, the catheter is used to find the site that is causing the PSVT, and the tissue at this site is gently heated to about 60-degrees Celsius, permanently denaturing it so that PSVT will not recur.

If the symptoms of PSVT bother you enough, you should ask your doctor to go over treatment options, including medications and catheter ablation.