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Baltimore, MD
PVCs Aren’t Always Benign, and He Didn’t Want to Live with Them
Do NOT listen when doctors say PVCs are harmless, writes John Thorton from Sioux Falls, SD. Besides A-Fib and A-Flutter, his PVCs were destroying his life and driving him crazy.
Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) are premature beats that occur in the ventricles, i.e., the heart’s lower chambers. (Premature beats that occur in the atria, the heart’s upper chambers, are called premature atrial contractions, or PACs.) In his A-Fib story, John writes:
“The local MDs (about a half dozen different ones), cardiologists, EPs, and other local specialists, all told me stuff like: “Everyone has PVCs” and “PVCs are benign,” and “It is just anxiety,” and “You just need to learn to live with it”.
Which was completely WRONG.
Being his Own Patient Advocate
In his A-Fib story, PVC-Free After Successful Ablation at Mayo Clinic, John advises: Be assertive, even aggressive.
“I had to set up my own appointment at Mayo Clinic to get evaluated there. It was a lot of work, by me alone, to get in to see the doctors at Mayo, but it was worth it.
I honestly believe that had I not gone to Mayo, I would have suffered some major heart event, or possibly death.”
PVCs Aren’t Always Benign
Especially for people with A-Fib, PVCs should be taken seriously. Often they precede or predict who will develop A-Fib. They can increase chances of a fatal heart attack or sudden death. The good news: sites in the heart that produce PVCs can be mapped and ablated just like A-Fib signals.
To learn more about PVCs, see my article: FAQs Coping with A-Fib: PVCs & PACs
Don’t be Afraid to Fire Your Doctor!
Kudos to John for being his own best patient advocate, for taking the bull by the horns and dealing with his PVCs. In spite of what he heard from everyone else, he persevered and went to probably the best center in the US for treating PVCs—the Mayo Clinic. Now John’s A-Fib free and only has occasional PVCs.
Like John, don’t be afraid to fire your doctor! To learn how to interview doctors, see our page: Finding the Right Doctor for You and Your A-Fib.
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