is wpw hereditary?

Hello. I'm very sorry about your little daughter. She really didn’t deserve to be sick that young. I will tell you some crucial facts about this syndrome.
Like you already said, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a congenital heart problem that affects the heart’s electrical system. The electric impulse doesn’t follow the normal path from atria to ventricles but goes in one circuit around the heart. Sometimes, it causes no symptoms but sometimes it’s causing heart beat irregularity called supraventricular tachycardia.
For your information WPW is not usually hereditary and it is not usually passed from parents to children.

Hi, I had WPW from 18 to 30 years old but was misdiagnosed. Found out it was WPW and had an operation ( an ablation- where they insert a tube into your heart and burn away the extra electrical pathway) which is not as dramtic as it sounds.
It may be that medication wiil relieve symptoms but my understanding is they won't cure it. I don't really know about WPW in children, but i think it's possible to grow out of it.

From my experience the op wasn't too bad and I was completely cured of any symptoms. My bpm was recorded at over 220 before the op, now i never have a problem even during vigorous exercise.

hope this puts your mind at ease a bit

Hello, I know your post is 2 yrs old, but I do have alot of knowledge regarding WPW. This disease is not well known and many practitioners do NOT know alot about it.

I can speak to you from experience; being a member of a family where a diagnosis of WPW could have saved many males lives. Every males on my fathers side, including himself, has died before the age of 50. My Father was only 47. It cannot be proven for most, but it has been proven for a few that the diagnosis was indeed WPW. If this knowledge and know how had of been available years ago - who knows how many would still be alive. But everyone died of rapid heart rate : tachycardia.

It is mostly common in the male species and is always a defect that they are born with. It is not from an injury or something that has grown or a disease that has generated in later life. Unfortunatley this is a congenital abnormality (present at birth) involving the heart's electrical system. Most people with WPW syndrome lead normal lives. Many have no symptoms and have no episodes of tachycardia. Normally, electrical signals in the heart go through the atrioventricular (AV) node, the pathway connecting the two top chambers of the heart (atria) to the two bottom chambers (ventricles).

In people with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, there is an extra, or accessory, AV pathway. This leads to "re-entry supraventricular tachycardia," a rapid heart rate initiated above the ventricles.

The location of the extra electrical pathway in Wolff-Parkinson-White can often be precisely identified. Wolff-Parkinson-White is one of the most common causes of fast heart rate disorders (tachyarrhymthmias) in infants and children.

In some people, WPW syndrome can cause rapid heartbeats (paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia), with heart rates rising up to 240 beats per minute (The normal rate is 60 to 80 beats per minute). Other symptoms include palpitations, shortness of breath, fainting and possibly angina (chest pain). While the condition is present at birth, these type of symptoms are more likely to appear in adults. WPW is usually diagnosed in adolescence or early adulthood.

Researching WPW and being in contact with the founders of the disease, has brought alot of evidence that it indeed IS HEREDITARY !!!
Where I live in Toronto, Ontario CANADA, there is a research Hospital that deals with such disorders as WPW. My youngest son was diagnosed 6 yrs ago (@ 25)when his heart just about blew out of his chest while lifting weights. Gasping for breath, holding his chest he passed out. His heart rate was way too high and he was rushed to emerg. You could literally see his his chest jumping up and down over his heart area. His heart rate taken by the EMT was over 300 b.p.m ~ he is lucky to be alive.
He has had 2 abilations and still suffers from WPW. This extra pathway is extremely hard to find in some patients. It is common for Surgeons not to be able to find this area during the surgery or abilation. It was explained to me by a Cardialogist like this ..it is as if it pulls back inside and becomes unnoticeable or hidden.
Blood should pump into the heart, be refreshed and re-oxygenated then pumped back out into the body. In WPW, this extra pathway take the blood into it, forcing the blood to basically return for re-oxygenation. So the blood 'volleys' back and forth not leaving the heart. This causing the heart rate to increase to try and perform its job and it beats faster and faster.
> WPW as a whole is still being studied and experimented with. So keep yourself up to date with your Cardiologist OR/ even better, use the WPW home website.
>> I hope this help, please remember, WPW can be cured and it is operable. BEST WISHES AND GOOD LUCK

WPW can be hereditary if the child develops the gene from the affected parent!!! My daughter passed away from WPW and her father also has WPW as well.

What, exactly, is the WPW home website address?

I have been recently diagnosed with WPW syndrome and would love to access a site like that, but I can't find this WPW website anywhere.

Two of my three children were diagnosed with WPW.

my son devloped wpw while he was still in my belly and it caused him to have svts and be born 12weeks early me and my husband are trying to decide if we are going to have anther child or not and if it something that is passed sdown then I dont want to put anther child threw that he was only 2lbs and getting his heart shocked to bring him out of svt so if you find anything out please let me know came across this in google I will akso be talking with my ob and the cardo its now finaly controled by heart medication and he hasnt had an svt in 4months svt is when his heart rate goes past 300s

Hello, I can tell you from someone who was diognose with WPW when i was 12 that your doctor was correct in telling you everything is OK.  I was not easily contoled with medication and was the second person to have surgery in the US.  I owe my life to the Cleveland Clinic.  Since the surgery i have gone on for 20 years in the military and have had no complications with any form of physical exercise.  I now have two kids and am wondering if there is any chance that i may have passed it on to them.  they have started playing sports and i am just waiting for one of them to tell me they feel funny that there heart is beating to fast.  should i be worried?

 

I was born with a VSD, so when my oldest daughter was born I wanted her checked and they discovered that she had WPW syndrome. After years of being on medication. When she was 11. The doctor had said at one of her check ups and after a stress test, "The time has come to do something". So we decided to proceed with the ablation, everything went great. She is now 19 and has a son of her own, who we also had "checked" and he is fine. I have a younger daughter, who was also checked and she is fine too.

I am very sorry to hear about your daughter. I was diagonosed with WPW when i was 16 and my doctor told me that since the irregular heart beat that was happening so often almost 4 times a month that i should go ahead and get the ablation done. When they went to do the ablation they actually found two holes in my electrical lining and they took care of both of them and they then told me that most likely the reason i passed out the year before was because of the second hole that the heart beat would follow through. I think everyday what if it comes back but it hasnt and it has been 2 years and my doctor told me that after the first 6 months or so if it didnt come back there was a very little chance that it would. I remember how bad i felt everytime i got the irregular heart beat and it was very difficult to describe to someone else how it felt and since your daughter is so young i am sure it is very difficult for you to understand. I hope this helped a little bit and i hope everything goes well

Hi I was diagnosed with WPW at 6 months old and was on medication from then until about the age of 18 I have had 6 ablations now the first at 12 years old and am sorry to say that none of these have worked my condition has improved I was born with 6 accessory pathways and am now left with one stubborn one that does not want to go. My daughter is 4 and she was diagnosed with WPW at 7 months old she is the complete opposite to me and has no symptoms whatsoever the condition appears on her ecg's but luckily she doesn't get any svt's or dizziness I am also currently 23 weeks pregnant and am waiting to see of this baby will be affected. Medication never worked for me I have tried several beta blockers and they do not agree with me. I think I just have to put up with the symptoms now

Hi, i'm so sorry about your daughter. I went through that with my son 14 years ago. He was diagnosed at six weeks. He actually out grew it at 15 months old and didn't need surgery. He's a strong, beautiful child and i'm sure your daughter will be fine. He was however on meds and we often had a hard time controlling his other condition which was a rapid heart rate. The best thing i can tell you is to watch your child, you will know best when something is wrong. Good luck to you!

My son was diagnosed at 2 and a half.  He has had no symptoms as of yet.  I understand your worry.  My son now is almost 5 and he is in kindergarten and I worry everyday about him going to school.  I was told by his dr. And a good friend that is a P.A. That symptoms of WPW usually start around 8.  My son is very active and his cardiologist said to let him be a little boy.they say there is still a chance he can grow out of it.  As for hereditary I'm sorry I don't know.  I am still learning about all of this myself.  I wish you and your daughter the best and hopefully she will grow out of it!  

Please don't distress. I was born with WPW. I believe it is hereditary. I am no doctor but I can only tell you to go to a good ecologist and just talk to him/her. It is a very simple procedure and i doubt you want your child on medication for years. Also, maybe she will grow out of it. I don't know. Good luck but please don't be distressed.