Have Accessory Pathway. On Medication. Getting Fluctuating Blood Pressure And Pain In Chest. Concerned

Posted on Fri, 16 Nov 2012

Question: I am a 30 year ol female. I have an accessory pathway and sometimes have periods of svt and af. Im not currently on medication but am schedualed to have a loop monitor fitted under the skin in the next few weeks. For the past few days I have been getting left arm pain and mild chest pain. I feel very tired and look pale. My bp flutuates between 115/70 and 105/65. I have been to my local minor injuries and had an ecg which was normal but I still feel unwell.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (2 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

Pain in the left arm and chest is typically seen due transient ischemia in heart musculature.We would definitely need to rule these out since they may worsen the rhythm disturbance that you already have. Even though the ECG is normal, we would need to rule this out by using a stress test. An ECG would be specific only if we do it when you are having the pain.
If the stress test is negative, we could be reasonably sure that the pain in the chest could be due to other reasons like hyperacidity, costochondritis or a simple muscle spasm.
The Loop monitor is best diagnostic modality which will help by identifying the type , duration and time of the rhythm disturbance.Based on the readings from Loop monitor the choice of anti-arrhythmic drugs can be made and dosage formulated to make you symptom free.

Hope I answered your query. Let me know if you have any more questions

regards,

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Aparna Kohli