Ideal Treatment For Potentially Fatal Heart Condition Changes With Age, Research Shows
Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 13:21
in Health & Medicine
Doctors now make more informed decisions on how to treat an electrical disorder of the heart -- be it with drugs, an implanted device or nothing -- thanks to a series of decades-long studies. The two latest studies in the series further defined the ideal treatments for the youngest and oldest of patients with Long QT syndrome (LQTS) and concluded that they are not the same. Another conclusion is that the risk of fatal events in children is relatively low, and that implanted devices, while clearly important for some high-risk patients, may create more risk than the condition itself in some cases. That may change, however, if that patient survives past 40, when the same device becomes a lifesaver.