Hi Terri and the rest of you. I was getting ready to crash for the evening when I somehow found myself idly surfing on the topic of PVCs and wound up registering here. I think I may, from time to time, have some useful info to pass along, so decided to introduce myself before I turn in tonight. I've had the mixed fortune of having had a lot of experience in the medical field from both sides of the fence: both as patient and as EMT/CCT/Critical Care Tech/ER tech, etc. I've held an active EMT license for the past 31 years, am a certified non-invasive cardiology tech, and have worked both "outside" (fire department) and "inside" (hospitals) for the past 30-some years (I've lost count - on purpose). I presently am on work comp leave from my job as Clinical Partner at a large regional hospital/trauma center in SoCal, and have not only deep experience in the field of EMS (especially cardiology, neurology and psych), but serve as on my hospital's Critical Incident Stress Management and Disaster Response Teams. I did an externship in critical care and hold a certificate in EMS admin. as well. That's the fun part. The flip side is that since I was 17 years old I've been plagued by PVCs as well as other random arrhythmias, and was diagnosed at age 35 (I'm 60 now) as having MVP syndrome. Since Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, MVP, and Dysautonomia all run in my family, I've had some up-close and personal experience with the neuro side of the picture as well as dealing with the psych aspect of a lot of this stuff - and of course PVCs are often part of a psychosomatic picture as well as being functional and/or a symptom of disease. Again, I get a star in each category, since MVP sets me up for stress-induced PVCs (as well as PACs, PJCs, short runs of V-tach, etc.). In 1994, during an episode of Printzmetal's angina I was taken urgently to the cath lab, where I was found to have clean arteries. That was the good news. Unfortunately, before the crew was finished my Right Coronary Artery had dissected spirally (that mixed connective tissue disease rearing its head) resulting in an emergency bypass and completion of the aborted MI. Now 11 years later I have some actual active heart disease in the form of a partial blockage at the distal attachment of the bypass graft. My point in telling you all this? That one can have PVCs for all the already-stated reasons: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, stress, MVP, sleep disturbance, etc. PLUS the added wonder of newly-developed active heart disease, and the fine point is this: PVCs, while generally described as benign "except when too frequent, complex, or in the presence of heart disease" is the common answer but isn't totally correct. They can remain relatively benign even in a sixty year old male with an old MI, CABG and active single vessel disease - that's me I'm talking about - so long as the left ventricular function remains normal. For some reason mine does. Of course I'm at greater risk of having another MI of the garden variety now, and may need to have a stent stuck down in there to open up the narrowing, but even if I don't, so long as I can maintain adequate blood flow and remain without symptoms (the PVCs don't count because I've had them almost constantly for 43 years now and the MI was only 11 years ago and not connected to the prior hx of PVCs), then they aren't too much of a concern. However, that doesn't mean anyone should blow them off or feel he (or she) ought to just "get ahold of yourself!" and somehow magically NOT react with anxiety. They can be quite unnerving! Hopefully my screwed up heart history and subsequent good health (again, not counting the thousands of PVCs per week that I feel) might help some others to find a little more peace of mind. And if not, I can answer a lot of questions about what is apt to go wrong with our magnificent little pump. Like I said, I've seen it from both sides, and across 4 decades. I can't wait to get back to work!
-AJCalhoun, EMT/CCT/CP