Long QT Syndrome

Treatment

Mayo Clinic doctors trained in heart disease (cardiologists), heart surgery (cardiac surgery) and other specialties treat long QT syndrome (LQTS). Your treatment may depend on the type and severity of your condition. The goal of treatment is to prevent dangerous heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death.

Your treatment may include several options.

• Medications. Your doctor may prescribe beta blockers to help slow your heart rate and prevent dangerously fast heart rhythms that may occur in response to stress. If you have the LQT3 form of LQTS, sodium channel blockers may help improve your condition. Potassium supplements also may improve your heart's electrical system.


View a short video to see how the defibrillator works.

• Implanted devices. You may need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker to control your heart rate and rhythm.
• Left cardiac sympathetic denervation surgery. If doctors determine you have a high risk of sudden cardiac death, you may have surgery. In this procedure, your surgeon removes specific nerves in your body's sympathetic nervous system that control your heart rhythm's response to stress. Surgery may help regulate your heart rhythm and reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death. Surgeons may perform a minimally invasive surgery, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which may have reduced complications and a quicker recovery time.
• Lifestyle changes. Your doctor may recommend lifestyle changes to reduce your symptoms, including avoiding strenuous exercise, avoiding medications that may trigger your condition and avoiding stress. If you don't have symptoms, you may require only lifestyle changes and monitoring.

Read more about long QT syndrome treatment.