In 2017, an otherwise healthy 17 year old male was playing competitive ice hockey when he suddenly collapsed suffering a cardiac arrest. Fortunately, he was rapidly resuscitated and transferred to the local hospital in his community for stabilization
and further investigation in order to identify the cause of his collapse. He continued to have short bursts of a dangerous arrhythmia (Ventricular Tachycardia) which could not be controlled with standard cardiac medications.
At that point, advice was sought through our Expert Medical Opinion team. The McGill group recommended that he be immediately transferred to a specialized cardiac centre with specific diagnostic and therapeutic expertise in cardiac rhythm abnormalities.
This centre has an electrophysiological laboratory and using the most sophisticated modern techniques, they were able to pinpoint unique (congenital) nerve fibres in the patient’s heart muscle. He then underwent successful ablation therapy, a technique which eliminates these nerve fibres and thus, corrects the arrhythmia that led to his collapse.
It is our understanding that he then returned to a normal life without any further events.
Cardiac rhythm abnormalities
