How minimally invasive heart surgery helped keen marathon runner with life-threatening condition to get his ‘rhythm’ back
Yeung Yuk-kong’s abnormal heartbeat meant he ‘could have died at any time’, but feels like ‘new man’ thanks to Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Stubbs Road
When keen marathon runner Yeung Yuk-kong visited a doctor at a private clinic five years ago he thought was just suffering from flu.
So, he was stunned to discover he had a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm, which he says meant he “could have died at any time”.
My first run after surgery felt so good – it was even better than winning the lottery
The Hongkonger, 58, like many other people, had never heard of atrial fibrillation – a common condition that affects people aged 60 or over, which can cause problems such as strokes, blot clots and heart failure.
“My doctor checked my heart and told me my heart rate was only about 30 beats per minute,” Yeung says. Most adults have a resting heart rate of between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
“He then referred me to a cardiologist and I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation – something I’d never heard of and knew nothing about.”
When electrical impulses misfire
An irregular heartbeat or pulse occurs when electrical impulses fire off from different places in the atria – the top chambers of the heart – in a disorganised way, which causes the atria to twitch.
