Not posted for a while, was hopeful that the last ablation in late April was going to be successful but no the dreaded beast has won again, even through 200 mg of Amiodarone a day. The palpitations are back. I've now been referred to the cardiac surgeons for a mini maze cryo proceedure by my EP, who has advised, I may need another catheter ablation as well, in order to achieve full thickness scarring both inside and outside the atria.
I know Mellanie Hills Trueman from the AFA has had this proceedure, but has any of our British friends got experience of this proceedure ???
Any advice would be helpful, Thanks
Chris
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This is interesting. What is your history, age etc. Shall be very interested to see how you get on. My PV s have been fully isolated after 3 ablations but AF &flutter still crop up. Sandra
Hi Sandra, I'm a young 52 I've been diagnosed since April/ May 2013. but have had intermittent symptoms for about 5 or 6 yrs, I think I was misdiagnosed as being peri menopausal, an ECG was done but not a 24hr tape.
It is lone paroxysmal AF, I have absolutely no indicators, although I do have a marginally dilated left atrium which could because it was undiagnosed for so long.
After my last ablation in April my EP said the AF was in both atriums not only the veins, and the heart was very sensitive, it just needed a nudge with the catheter to kick it off. The atrium had started to remodel, so he left me on Amiodarone in an attempt to reverse this and keep me in SR, but the palpitations have never really stopped and because of this when I got to 6 weeks post op, I had a 24 hour tape, which showed I was in AF for 12 hours out of 21 (I had to take it off early). So this is the next step. Where are you and what's your history ?? Chris
Hi Chris, in response to your post 2 days ago, I was diagnosed at 48 ( 21 years ago -- ouch! ) & had no other problems , blood pressure OK etc but I had started taking an amphetamine type of 'diet ' pill which may have triggered AF. My last ablation was April 2013 & I have had 3 admissions for Cardioversion since then , the last 2 months ago. EP thinks that the trigger might be an unusual focus , SVC, left atrial appendage, or coronary sinus. Whatever, I have now been placed on the drug Disopyramide, first taken 18 years ago ( it's a long story ) & appear to be largely OK . ( as I speak ! ) Can't hope for much more. I am located on the south east coast.
Are you interested in the mini maze as an alternative ?, I get so much symptomatic AF, as I said even despite 200mg of Amiodarone that my EP is a bit,"right let's blast this with everything we've got". He doesn't want to leave me on Amiodarone any longer than he has to, for the usual reasons and he only wants to pace and ablate as a last resort so this is the only option left, except for do nothing. Which is n't really an option as without Amiodarone or similar, I would spend my life in A & E. Oh and I can't take Flecanide or any of that family. So my options are limited.
Had another uncomfortable night last night, most of it spent on the sofa, caused by wanting to be normal and having a few glasses of champagne that our weekend guests had brought. Decided it's not worth it, AF always comes out the victor!
Chris i don't know about on this forum but i have seen reports from others on other forums who said it (mini maze) was the procedure that finally did the trick after many many other procedures. I am sorry bu i don't remember on what forums or articles i saw them.
Thanks will look around the web, just had a rotten night and yesterday was pretty grim, it pretty much constant now, suppose it would be worse without the Amiodarone
A mini maze is quite a major operation in comparison to a standard ablation. I always thought I might go for it if I failed 3 ablations as it scare the outside of te heart rather than the inside. The success rate appears similar to ablations. I've heard that there is an operation where a mini maze on the outside, carried out by a cardio and an ablation on the inside by an EP are carried out at the same time, giving good results. Go onto the afibbers,org forums for more info on mini maze.
Thanks for the web address, my EP has given me the choice of an internal mini maze or external but not together. He said which ever I choose, I may need a tidy up after, so if I choose external then he may need to do the same internally afterwards to achieve full thickness scars.
The cardiac surgeon can probably give me a date sooner than my EP, so that's the route we're going for. He thinks this is probably the better option as I've had both my ablation's and 3 cardio versions within the last eight months and the AF is not vein driven. So time for a change of tactics, Mmmm.
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I've been diagnosed since April/ May 2013. but have had intermittent symptoms for about 5 or 6 yrs, I think I was misdiagnosed as being peri menopausal, an ECG was done but not a 24hr tape.
Mini Maze Procedures, there is a place for all, my personal view
Wolf Mini maze. It Works.
Mini Maze availability in UK
wolf mini maze / query 
