11 year old male with severe food allergies, asthma & reflux

[Oradell]

My son presents with SVT with narrow QRS tachycardia.  He has had multiple episodes over the last year.  We finally were able to document the heart rate at 170 bpm for over 1 1/2 hours.  He returned to sinus rhythm using vagal manuvres. Our pediatric cardiologist suggests ablation to locate an accessory pathway and remove.  He also has reflux or possibly eosinophilic.  He also has asthma & has serious food allergies (peanut, milk, egg, soy, etc....)  Could this be connected in anyway?  Could the reflux/eosinophilic trigger the SVT?  What areas should I address first?  The gastro  dr would like to do an endoscopy, which we will need cardiac clearance for.  I am meeting with the electrophysiologist this week.  He is currently taking atenolol until further notice.  Help!!  Where do I begin?

[dolfnlvr]

My first question for you is, what is your son's reaction to these foods?  Is it anaphylactic?  Is there any chance that trace amounts of something you do not know he is allergic to could cause the cardiac reaction?  

Eosinophilia is caused (if not from a parasite) from the bodies reaction to allergens.  The body attacks normal things in the gut lining like it was a parasite.  Given your son's food allergies, it makes sense that he might have this problem.  

I think (I'm not a doctor and this is JUST an opinion) that I would focus first on the digestive/allergen issues.  I would bet that the body's immune reactions to allergens is increasing systemic cortisol and adrenaline levels, just as it would if your son were truly affected by disease.  I would think that these increased levels could trigger SVT episodes.  On that same note, finding out what caused the SVT to start will not "cure" it.  Once your pacer cells are "primed" it doesn't take the same level of instigation to induce SVT.  However, if your doctor has found that the SVT is benign, I would focus on the life threatening allergic responses first, then treat the SVT secondarily.

Again...this is one opinion, and it is a detached one at that.  Please take my opinion and any others with a grain of motherly salt, and use your good common sense to help guide you through this tough time.  (A nice dose of faith wouldn't hurt either).

Take care.