defibrillator
ROCHESTER, Minn. — March 21, 2014 — Here are highlights from the March issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter. You may cite this publication as often as you wish. Reprinting is allowed for a fee. Mayo Clinic Health Letter attribution is required. Include the following subscription information as your editorial policies permit: Visit www.HealthLetter.MayoClinic.com or call toll-free for subscription information, 1-800-333-9037, extension 9771. Full newsletter text: Mayo Clinic Health Letter March 2014 (for journalists only). Long QT syndrome ― Electrical Miscues in the Heart ― Can Cause Fainting, Seizures Long QT syndrome — when the electrical activity of the heart takes longer than it should to return to normal after a heartbeat — can lead to potentially dangerous heart rhythms. The March issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter covers this condition and why it’s dangerous. Long QT syndrome can cause fast, chaotic heartbeats that result in fainting, seizures or even sudden death. If long QT syndrome is suspected because of a fainting spell or family history, a doctor will likely suggest several tests, starting with an electrocardiogram (ECG).
Shortly after he was born in early 2008, Trevor King was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome, a condition that could cause sudden cardiac death. He may be the youngest patient ever to get a pacemaker-defibrillator, a device that sends an electric shock to the heart when it detects a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm. But in the months following his birth and diagnosis, Trevor's mother Rhonda began participating in an online community for patients with Long QT and their families, and she began to question whether he had been correctly diagnosed. Here's the first part of her story of deciding to seek a second opinion for Trevor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYiaMuZY4g Below is Part II of Trevor's story, as Mrs. King describes what happened when she and her husband arrived in Rochester, Minn. to see Dr. Michael Ackerman:
When Clint Frederick learned that he needed a heart transplant, he naturally wondered what the road ahead would look like. So he searched for a book that described the process from a patient’s perspective. His search came up short. But it planted seed. Perhaps he'd change things for other patients. "After I was approved for a heart transplant, I decided to keep a diary," he says. The diary became the basis for a book, supplemented by information he drew from his medical record, that chronicles Clint's 110 days on the transplant list. But his story begins long before his wait for a new heart.
