Posted by Tim Hawkins on August 23, 2002 at 12:02:00:
In Reply to: Re: 1 Month since MAZE at Mayo posted by Roger Meyer on August 21, 2002 at 23:17:16:
Based upon just my own experience, I don’t think that one can always tell the difference between a PVC and a PAC just by how it feels. Because I have been a pilot for over 35 years I have had to deal with the FAA to get a medical every 6 mos. - to maintain my first class medical. I have been tested on a regular basis. I had the Maze at CC on 3/29/2002 and I am 55 years old with no other heart or health problems. I can remember even in my 20s being able to feel what I called skipped beats. I went to the university when I was about 25 and paid for a treadmill test. While I was getting hooked up the Doctor asked me if I could feel “that”. He was seeing a few premature beats. I told him yes. I said that I “could always feel them.” I now know that that is not true. I may have been able to feel some of them but it is probably certain that I missed many of them. When I developed Afib a few years back, I was forced to deal with the problem and at the same time report my problem to the FAA. The FAA started requiring more testing then usual and I started having to get regular 24 hr holter reports. I developed an interest in learning to read the report and even purchased a couple of books on the subject. After all of this, I have learned the following only as it relates to me:
1. Before the Maze I had mostly PACs that would sometimes turn into afib.
2. I was very aware of the skip beat feeling that would signal several PACs
3. After the Maze I now have mostly PVCs as recorded via holter. I have now other heart problems that have been found.
4. The books seem to say that PVCs are easier to feel. In my case that is not true. I sometimes don’t feel my PVCs. I know that because they are recorded and I didn’t notice a thing. Sometimes I do feel them.
5. Before the Maze I had no premature beats while jogging or biking (as long as my heart rate was up). I now have PVCs during exercise. I can sometimes feel them but they really don’t cause me any problems.
6. You need some method of seeing or tracing the rhythm in order to tell if it is a PAC or PVC.Tim