Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome

In many cases, episodes of abnormal heart activity associated with WPW syndrome are harmless, don't last long, and settle down on their own without treatment.

You may therefore not need any treatment if your symptoms aremild or occur very occasionally, although you should still have regular check-ups so your heart can be monitored.

If your cardiologist recommends treatment, there are a number of options available.You can have treatmentto either stop episodes when they occur, or prevent them occurring in the future.

Stopping an episode

There are three maintechniques and treatments that can help stop episodes as they occur. These are:

• Vagal manoeuvres techniques designed to stimulatethe nerve that slows down the electrical signals in your heart. An example isthe 'Valsalva manoeuvre', where you hold your nose, close your mouth and exhale hard while straining as if you're on the toilet.
• Medication an injection of medicine such asadenosinecan be given in hospital if vagal manoeuvres don't help. It canblock the abnormal electricalsignals in your heart.
• Cardioversion a type of electric shock therapythat jolts the heart back into a normal rhythm. This may be carried out in hospital if the above treatments don't work.

Preventing further episodes

Techniques and treatments that can help prevent episodes include:

• Lifestyle changes if your episodes are triggered by things such as strenuous exercise or alcohol, avoiding these may help. Your cardiologist can advise youabout this.
• Medication daily tablets of medication such as amiodarone can help prevent episodes by slowing down the electrical impulses in your heart.
• Catheter ablation this procedure is commonly used nowadays to destroy the extra part of the heart causing the problems in the heart's electrical system. It's effective in around 95% of cases.

See treating supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) for more information about all the treatments mentioned here.