Cryoablation Surg

[Tammy4155]

My husband 54 has had cryoablation surg twice an it hasn't worked. His heart goes in an out of afib everyday .His doctor said give it awhile but it's been 2 months since last surg. What should he do can you live safely that way?

[BobD Volunteer]

Hi Tammy and firstly it isn't surgery in the conventional way. We never call it that, but a procedure. Cryo ablation is the quickest type but has limitations. If you go to AF Association website and look there is a booklet on all aspects of ablation explaining each procedure. With Cryo, a small balloon is fed via a catheter into the heart and placed in the entrance to the four pulmonary veins. The balloon is then inflated and a very cold gas pumped in which causes a freeze burn around the entrance. The scars from this are supposed to block the rogue electrical signals which cause the AF.

Unfortunately not all these rogue signals come from the four pulmonary veins so sometimes other burns need to be made in other places and for these a different method needs to be done. (Radio frequency) using heat rather than cold.

In your husband's case I would make two points.

It takes at least three months for the heart to settle down after any ablation so at two months I wouldn't yet start worrying too much. They should have explained this already.

The second point is that he can always have a third RF ablation to tidy up any areas missed by the cryo. I had three before mine was sorted out coming close to seven years now.

Lastly. yes many people have permanent AF and live quite well. Provided that the condition is controlled and the patient is anticoagulated to prevent stroke there is no reason why they should not. In fact many people have changed their life style, changed diet. cut out alcohol, smoking etc and probably live longer for it.

Hope that helps.

Bob

[Kodaska]

Has he worn a 30-day monitor to get a record of how frequently his AF occurs and how strong it is?

As Bob says, he needs to be patient - what he's experiencing may be breakthrough arrhythmias that will go away as his heart heals.

Do the episodes disable him, or are they merely inconvenient? If the latter, he may not need to do anything. I hope that's the case.

[Tammy4155 in reply to Kodaska]

His Dad lived 83 yrs with his heart in afib an that's not what killed him so it's genetic . My husband never knew he was in afib until he fell in hole an needed back surg. After he has been on meds to keep it in now when it goes out he feels very nervous ? I said it has been 2 months but relieved it has been 4 months since last procedure . I told him about this web site it made him feel better that other people have this same problem. I will have him talk to dr about wearing the monitor !

[PeterWh in reply to Tammy4155]

Not saying this is true in your father's case but the assessment of AF that long ago may not be the correct assessment today. Then knowledge and equipment was so significantly different. Also definitions have changed in that time. Even assessments from 25 years ago can sometimes be no longer valid.

[Tammy4155]

I just don't like the fact it goes in an out a couple times day ! That just doesn't seem safe to me ???

[PeterWh in reply to Tammy4155]

In one way he is lucky that he is in paroxsymal AF. Many, like me, are in persistent AF. However some in paroxsymal AF get large swings which makes it debilitating and painful. Keep a log and then go through this with your EP.

[Kodaska in reply to Tammy4155]

Before my ablation I was in paroxysmal AF that came and went up to 20 times a day, with episodes lasting from a few seconds to a few hours. It didn't really bother me as long as I wasn't doing anything strenuous (which was fairly often, so it did bother me).

My cardio/EP said that if the arrhythmias were tolerable there was no need to treat them with either drugs or an ablation. I chose the ablation because I go wilderness camping for 3 weeks out of the year and can't afford to be temporarily out of sorts. (E.g., if my canoe capsizes in the middle of a lake I need all the strength I can muster.)

A 30-day monitor will give your hub a lot of good information that he can put together with his experience.