5000 Skipped Beats a Day

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mahai - 30 Dec 2005 19:38 GMT

My wife recently wore a Holter Monitor and they found out that her
heart skips about 5000 beats a day. They are scheduling her to have an
echocardiogram. Our present insurance recently ran out. The next
insurance has a very high deductible and doesn't cover pre-exsisting
conditions.

Does my wife's condition sound serious? If so -- or the echo is
recommended, how much can we expect to have to pay for it?

What might be her problem?

Thanks,

MaHai

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Erskine James - 30 Dec 2005 20:21 GMT

Mahai,

I am sorry to be vague with this answer, but it is going to be hard to
answer this question. Are the "skipped beats" isolated PVC's (premature
ventricular complexes), PVC's in couplets, runs of PVC's, or are they
PSVC's (premature supraventricular complexes)? Or are the skipped
beats dropped beats? These all mean differing things.

Assuming the skipped beats are all isolated PVC's, then the echo is
appropriate for evaluation of LV function. If the function is okay (and
there is no reason to suspect coronary disease), then you can be
reassured that these are just a benign finding. If LV function is
decreased, then these extra beats can have some significance.

Here is the American Heart Webpage on "skipped beats":
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=8

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mahai - 30 Dec 2005 20:37 GMT

Thanks for your reply. We tried to call the doctor to find out.
However, they closed early due to the holidays. We will find out on
Tuesday. I will reply again when I have more information.

Thanks again.

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