13/01/2026
At just 17, Marco was playing high-level basketball, competing in tournaments across Europe. It was after one of his matches that Marco first noticed that he wasn’t quite feeling right. “I’d finish a match and I’d be feeling tired, and my heart would be thumping for a while.”
After an ECG, an echocardiogram and a Holter monitor (48-hour ECG) at a local hospital, no problems were picked up with Marco’s heart.
However, when symptoms worsened, Marco’s family decided to get a second opinion and searched online for the best paediatric heart consultants. It was at this point they came across HCA UK.
After virtual consultations and expert monitoring by Dr Martin Lowe, Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist at The Portland Hospital, Marco was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). This is a type of heart rhythm disorder where electrical signals from the heart cause a sudden and rapid increase in your heartbeat, which can make you feel weak, breathless, tired and light-headed.
Together with his family, Marco chose to have a cardiac ablation, a minimally invasive procedure designed to correct the heart’s electrical signals and restore a normal rhythm.
The result? Marco says: “By four in the afternoon I was leaving the hospital… and a week later I was back training.”
🔗 Read more about Marco’s story here https://www.hcahealthcare.co.uk/patient-and-visitor-information/patient-information/patient-stories/marcos-cardiac-story