In their 20s, their hearts seemed normal: What was lurking beneath?

Symptoms can be subtle, diagnoses can be difficult and a normal-looking heart on an initial test does not always tell the whole story. (Source: Pexels/ Representational) 8 min readSep 28, 2026 08:55 AM IST First published on: Sep 28, 2026 at 08:53 AM IST They were busy being young, their lives pivoted around studies, family and everyday routine. Yet inside their hearts, two very different conditions were making them restless. Sayanee Banerjee, 29, was living with unexplained blackouts, racing heartbeats and a tumour that routine tests failed to reveal. Rima, born with a hole in her heart and operated on at eight, remained breathless for the next 13 years before doctors discovered that the first diagnosis had not told the whole story. Their conditions were rare, but their journeys raise a larger question: what happens when a young heart does not behave as it should, yet the reason stays hidden? As an MTech graduate in nanotechnology, preparing for the UPSC examination and living the college- studies-home repeat routine, Sayanee breezed through health issues till she started experiencing blackouts, the frequency of which increased. The first time, she was out with her parents. The second time, she collapsed in a mall. Her heart rate was 110 to 115 beats a minute even at rest. With mild exertion, it could climb beyond 150 and sometimes touch 170. She watched the numbers on her Apple Watch, but they had become so familiar that they barely registered as alarming. There were palpitations, too — strange, rapid bursts she describes as a “bubble-popping-inside-your-chest kind of feeling”, accompanied by tightness near her neck. There was a persistent stiffness in her chest.