Hi there,

I was wondering....are there any families out there where a parent and child both have pacemakers, or two children?

 

 

I can think of at least two members here who have parents and at least one child with a pm.

Why do they have the pm? Some are genetic, most are not. I have a pm for congenital complete heart block, my doctor said it's not genetic so my kids have no more chance of having it than I did.

 

My husband has Sick SInus Syndrome and Attrial Fib. My daughter....well we are still trying to figure that out. She has had syncope since she was three. She had a reveal device inmplanted and we found out that her heart had stopped for 10 sec.

My husband and her are part of some genetic research now because here in Canada there isnt a genetic test for SSS. I also have a 7 year lod son. My husband didnt get his pacemaker till he was 28, my daughter 5.

How long have you had your pacemaker?

 

I got my first one in 1993 when I was 27.

Did the pm stop your daughter's syncope?

 

I know of 2 families with both an affected parent and children (both families have a paced father and 2 or more kids with heart block). One has Tin Man Syndrome and the other Sick Sinus Syndrome.

Most babies born with complete heart block have it secondary to Neonatal Lupus Syndrome where the mom's autoantibodies damaged the av node in utero (my situation) but some have no known cause. Both of my children have pacemakers (age 5 and 3). A woman with positive ssa/ssb antibodies has only a 2% chance of having a baby with neonatal lupus. However, once a woman with positive antibodies has one affected child, her odds of a subsequent affected pregnancy goes up to 20%. With two affected children, my chances of another affected child would be as high as 50%.

 

There is a heart condition called Long QT Syndrome (LQTS) which is genetic. Sometimes people with this syndrome get defibrillators. There are families of LQTS people.

But genetic doesn't mean you have to get it. I know twin girls ... one has LQTS and the other doesn't. (Grandma also has LQTS).

 

on heartblockkids on yahoo groups there are many families with one or more children with pacemakers