Treatment

Treatment depends on several factors, including the severity and frequency of your symptoms and the type of arrhythmia you have.

If you have the WPW pathway but don't have symptoms, you probably won't need treatment. If you do, the goal of treatment is to slow a fast heart rate when it occurs and to prevent future episodes.

Treatment options include:

• Vagal maneuvers. These simple physical movements — which include coughing, bearing down as if you are having a bowel movement and putting an ice pack on your face — affect a nerve that helps regulate your heartbeat (vagus nerve). Your doctor might suggest you do vagal maneuvers to help slow a rapid heartbeat when it occurs.
• Medications. If vagal maneuvers don't stop the fast heartbeat, you might need an injection of an anti-arrhythmic medication. Your doctor also might recommend a medication that can slow the heart rate.
• Cardioversion. Paddles or patches on your chest can electrically shock your heart and help restore a normal rhythm. Cardioversion is typically used when maneuvers and medications aren't effective.
• Radiofrequency catheter ablation. Thin, flexible tubes (catheters) are threaded through blood vessels to your heart. Electrodes at the catheter tips are heated to destroy (ablate) the extra electrical pathway causing your condition. Radiofrequency ablation permanently corrects the heart-rhythm problems in most people with WPW syndrome.