Kelsey Grammer in hospital with irregular heartbeat

REUTERS ^ | July 28, 2008 | None Listed

[rockinqsranch]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Television star Kelsey Grammer is back in hospital with an irregular heartbeat, two months after suffering a heart attack the actor has said nearly killed him, a celebrity news program reported on Monday.

The 53-year-old actor, best known from "Cheers" and his sitcom "Frasier," has checked into a hospital in New York after feeling faint, "Entertainment Tonight" said. "(Grammer) is being treated for an irregular heartbeat, which we've learned could be a result of medication he was taking for his recent heart attack," the program said in a statement.

[Viking2002]

It's called 'cardioverting', which is a lower-voltage type of defibrillation intended to 'reset' the heart into a normal sinus rhythm. My late dad suffered from cardiopulmonary disease for 20 years, and would go into V-fib regularly. It got to the point that they finally transported him to Johns Hopkins and gave him an implant. My sister was holding his hand once when the implant went off, and she said the sensation that went up her arm felt like putting your tongue on a 9 volt battery. It had to be hell for him, especially being fully awake and knowing that the shock was coming.

[mkjessup]

Warm Boot or Cold Boot?

I believe it was 'warm'. My Dad was given a general anesthetic for the procedure and said he didn't remember a thing except that he felt better afterwards.

[mkjessup]

I would imagine a wide awake experience would be very disconcerting, my sympathies to you on the loss of your Dad, mine went home to the Lord in January ‘07.

[mkjessup]

Years of coke use coming to a head?

Unlikely. Coca Cola does produce that much of a head when poured, even from a cold bottle into a warm glass.

Root beer on the other hand, is notorious for it.

[Paul Heinzman]

This will hopefully be only a brief stay in hospital for Grammer, irregular heartbeats are mostly treated by stopping the heart, then restarting it.

Prayers for Mr. Grammer and his family. I have a friend who's had that procedure done before. While it is fairly routine, I had to ask him if his doctor's name was Bill Gates. ;-)

[mkjessup]

Did you suggest that he obtain a second opinion from Dr. Linux? ;)

[Viking2002]

Thank you. My mother retired as an R.N. after 42 years, and as she said, it's a blessing that his suffering is over - he had no quality of life to speak of. It's tough to see a robust parent deteriorate in that way - he had atrophied physically, was developing early-onset Alzheimer's, had developed neuropathy in both legs, and we lost him due to post-surgical complications when they tried to restore circulation in one leg, or gangrene would have taken him (his heart was too weak for an amputation). His heart and spirit were in it - he was a warrior to the end - but his body betrayed him. My mother was there when he coded, and she was the one who made the call when the crash cart wasn't enough - the one person I would have wanted to make the call. He was 65 years young. But, were it not for her, and his cardiologist living next door for ten years, he'd have died at my age. That's one thing that I give thanks for - he had his first heart attack at 34, and aside from treated hypertension, diet-controlled diabetes, and a bad general dispostion, I've yet to go under the knife at 45.

[RichardW]

I wouldn’t get one myself. I’d go for a by-pass using the mammary artery from inside the chest. The problem with using veins is that is the low pressure side of the system and they need to use the high pressure arteries so it won’t recur.

[Big Horn]

I had that afib after my 5 bypass surgery 9 years ago. It is no fun, but mine is controlled with medication. I will be 71 next month and feel great and hold down a full time job. I get plenty of exercise.

[Paul Heinzman]

Excellent observation! I have found though that pouring warm Coke over ice without tilting the glass will come to a head that will overflow and leave the drink flat.

Beer, however, should never be tilted, because you want it to come to a head.

[RichardW]

This is a layman’s opinion but it is my view that a majority of these irregularity problems are due to high blood pressure that is undetected and leads to heart muscle enlargment and damage to heart valves. The stray signals coming out of the right pulmonary veins are what most often set off these uncontrolled movements in the upper chambers. Although these will not kill you, they make your life a living hell, and they run the seven fold risk of having a stroke. That’s why they often put these folks on blood thinners such as coumidan, which I understand is a form of rat poison or so I have been told.

If I were Grammer, I would want to have a total workup and find out exactly what is going on. I’d want an echo and I’d want to know the condition of those arteries to see if there are any blockages. If not, and if the heart muscle is itself damaged, he runs a significant risk of dying from sudden cardiac death which comes from ventricular fibrillation. He needs to get to the bottom of this even if it includes a heart transplant if that is necessary. They also have the partial assist that may help the heart to recover. Bottom line, get to a proper facility and with his assets, I would go to the best; Cleveland Clinic and get the best treatment.

[Paul Heinzman]

Dr. Linux would recommend a reboot and a new install. Dr. Jobs would suggest an Apple a day. :-)

And that's it; I'm outta here. Prayers for Kelsey and his family. I'm pretty sure he'll be fine.

Sorry to hear about your dad. My wife's brother and father passed within a few days of each other, about a week and half ago. Her brother, Matt Linder, was forty one, a Navy vet of the Gulf War and veteran firefighter.

Two Saturday funerals in a row are two too many.

Levity keeps us sane. Humor is a gift from God.

[gracie1]

Depending on the artery that was involved, that probably was the cause. Chances are he got stents placed when he had his heart attack. Best bet is a cardioversion at this point, along with an anti-arrythmics. If that doesn't work an ablation would be in order.

[4everontheRight]

I saw him live on Saturday at an event raising money for ovarian cancer research. It was on QVC and half the proceeds went to the fund. I stopped on the channel when I saw him and his wife. Her mother is a survivor of ovarian cancer. They were being interviewed and he looked kind of pale actually but I didn't think much of it then. They teased him about spending money that day so perhaps he spent too much and the bill came in early!! I believe the event was in the Hamptons. Not sure about that but they must have raised a lot of money cause the short time I watched it they were selling stuff like mad!

[Lurker]

Actually we live outside Chicago now. But Mrs. L grew up in Petaluma and the establishment in question (John Ash and Co.) is in Santa Rosa.

Mrs. L was the Lead Line Chef there for nearly 7 years.

L

[dfwgator]

Get well, Sideshow Bob.