Ablation

my cardiologist recently informed me that I have a irregular heartbeat while at rest. I have a t. Jude 2210 two lead installed July 2011. He tells me that he would like me to try the drug route, then maybe ablation to cure the abnormal heartbeat. I only have the irregular beat at rest,when active, it goes away. Sometimes I have this "lumping" beat, or a flutter. Very scary sometimes. He wants me to wear a "holter" device to track the irregular beats.

I jog, bike, am very active. Don't know what to make if it.


What I'd like to know is: what are the negatives of ablation therapy? I will also go on the internet for discussion topics.

Any responses will help.

2 Comments

Hi Scout

by IAN MC - 2015-05-12 03:05:41

I am interested that you asked for the negatives of ablation rather than the positives because if you are lucky ( as I was ) there can be FANTASTIC positives :-

- A successful ablation can cure your abnormal heart rate rather than just treating it . It cured mine !!!

- It is a minor procedure and the recovery only takes a couple of days

- A successful ablation i.e one that gets your heart back into normal sinus rhythm , means that you are no longer a high stroke risk so you can stop blood thinners and anti-arrythmic drugs

- You will be able to resume running, biking etc without worrying about your heart going irregular again

The possible negatives are that ;-

- It may not work first time , you may need more than one ablation and even then there are no guarantees of success. Depending on what type of arrhythmia you have, the success rates vary enormously

- You may choose a Dr who is not that good at doing ablations.
It is the only heart you've got so don't let anyone loose on it without checking out him/her first !

Choose the Dr with care. Ask him how many ablations he has done . Ask other Drs / nurses/ technicians etc the question " If you had to have an ablation yourself , who would you choose to do it ? " . The answers can be quite revealing !

- Of course,if it's not your lucky day the anaesthetic may kill you but that applies to all operations

Best of luck and THINK POSITIVE

Ian

Highly recommend

by sooz - 2015-06-21 01:06:47

I had 2 ablations for PSVT in 2000. The first one found 4 abnormal pathways and the second found 2 with one going in the opposite direction that they normally see. Leave it to me to be weird! Before that I would get stuck over 200 bpm for hours and it was scary. The last time was so bad and they had hard time fixing it with meds and I had a cardioversion. After that I said..."fix it"!! Had the ablations done and have never been stuck again! I have lots of other issues and I am getting a pacemaker this month but I would not be alive without the ablations! I had a friend who was constantly going to ER for cardioversion for hers and I convinced her to go to my EP and she got her ablation as did another friend. Both very glad they did! Good luck!

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At age 20, I will be getting a pacemaker in few weeks along with an SA node ablation. This opportunity may change a five year prognosis into a normal life span! I look forward to being a little old lady with a wicked cane!