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First Degree Heart Block

Posted by cdammen @cdammen, Feb 22 9:23am

I recently was in the hospital diagnosed with a TIA, which I believe was hyponatremia. An incidental finding was first degree heart block (I improved after 8 hours when I received an IV and had pushed fluid the previous day.) I have a pacemaker for bradycardia and take metoprolol and atorvastatin. Is there anything else I should be doing to prevent any progression of the heart block?

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gloaming | @gloaming | Feb 22 10:29am

Welcome to the forum!

Have you read something like this?
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/1st-degree-heart-block
There are various possible causes, not least of which could be genetic and age-related. It's generally not serious. In your case, with known hyponatremia, it may self-correct in time with proper maintenance of sodium levels. My just-deceased dad and his older sister both had hyponatremia at times, bad enough to require a visit to the ER.

If the worst comes to the worst, and you still have a functioning AV node. they might offer to 'nuke' it and let your pacemaker, or a 'better' one, run your heart fully from now on. This, too, is not uncommon for people with intractable and serious heart rhythm problems....they will ablate the AV node, destroying it essentially, and then you rely on the pacemaker forever. This might sound dreadful, but it happens surprisingly often with people whose hearts simply do not respond well to treatments of a kind.

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cdammen | @cdammen | Feb 22 12:53pm
In reply to @gloaming "Welcome to the forum! Have you read something like this? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/1st-degree-heart-block There are various possible causes,..." + (show)
Profile picture for gloaming @gloaming

Welcome to the forum!

Have you read something like this?
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/1st-degree-heart-block
There are various possible causes, not least of which could be genetic and age-related. It's generally not serious. In your case, with known hyponatremia, it may self-correct in time with proper maintenance of sodium levels. My just-deceased dad and his older sister both had hyponatremia at times, bad enough to require a visit to the ER.

If the worst comes to the worst, and you still have a functioning AV node. they might offer to 'nuke' it and let your pacemaker, or a 'better' one, run your heart fully from now on. This, too, is not uncommon for people with intractable and serious heart rhythm problems....they will ablate the AV node, destroying it essentially, and then you rely on the pacemaker forever. This might sound dreadful, but it happens surprisingly often with people whose hearts simply do not respond well to treatments of a kind.

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@gloaming Thank you so much for your help and suggested reading. I learned a lot.

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