Vats Ablation, my story.

[johnk1956]

I have been reading with interest various experiences with various treatments for (believe it or not) various complaints. With all these variables on offer I noticed my personal experience is different again. My History: I had palpitations' when I was 18 after drinking excessively, these went not to return until I was in my late 40's. This time they could be termed 'Holidays heart syndrome' which is quite common on holiday after a few wines. Then a few years later I was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation also Left Ventricular Hypertrophy the thickening of a heart muscle due to "Hypertension", this supposed to be irreversible although it has! Meanwhile I developed Persistent AF, starting a day long then 2-3 days then 24/7. I could feel it and I felt fatigued but never fainted or dizzy. I went in had Cardioversion taking two attempts to get it in sinus rhythm, this lasted 13 days. I felt 100% better during this period on reporting this to my cardiologist he said that's usual but it showed the benefits were worth pursuing. My Treatment: I was offered Catheter Ablation but asked if I wanted to take part in a trial, Catheter Ablation v VATS Ablation, same procedures as usual but the trial was random to which they carried out first. When enquiring to the surgeon about VATS, his only complications were rare but twice if it followed Catheter Ablation, I said no to the trial and opted for VATS. The op is way more invasive and has for some reason higher risk of requiring a pacemaker (internet info? Not cardiologist). It also included the LAA procedure. Mine was 100% successful, 9 weeks later, no palpitations, no flutters no issues at all, I am overweight which now without fatigue have no excuses. I am exercising and life is good. I was on the dreaded amiodarone for a few weeks, lowering the dose, still on apixaban for 3 months then that stops. The only medication remaining permanently is 2.5mg of Bisoprolol, this for my hypertension, my BP is 125/78. I'm now 60 and looking to move on as it does feel as though your life is on hold. Ps there is a 'robotic VATS' on youtube along with LAA which the LAA video is I believe the Surgeon who carried out mine, Mr Stephen Hunter.

[Rellim296]

Thanks for sharing this - it sounds very encouraging. You've taken a bold step and can now reap the benefits. It feels so good to be able to give up medication and move forward.

Good luck with the exercise!

[Cclegg]

Very good to read, if I were you I personally would want to remain on an anti coagulant. I fear the risk of stroke as you never know when AF may return!

I am 4 months post 2nd ablation and symptom free but still on blood pressure meds and warfarin!!

Hope you continue to stay well.

[di-london]

That is so good and refreshing to read positive results, so happy for you but please forgive my ignorance, what is a VATS ablation, is it different from an ablation like pulmonary veins one?

[Thomps95]

Interesting - what a great success story. "video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery" (VATS) - is this one of the minimally invasive techniques? I read a 2010 study where they compared VATS and catheter ablation - they found a very high success rate for VATS, but also a high complication rate (13%??) - I wonder if the complication rate for VATS has dropped since 2010. It sounds like you took an educated risk, and it worked out well for you. Be well.

[johnk1956]

Hi, the only 'shock' excuse the pun, was the level of invasiveness. Having discussed catheter ablation with one cardiologist who mentioned the option of VATS and advised me to see another Cardiologist who performed the VATS procedure. He talked of 'Keyhole' surgery and once I agreed to this I was sent a booklet about the op amongst other 'things you should and shouldn't do' when being admitted to hospital, which I didn't bother reading as I thought I'd got the info. I walked to the operating theatre and laid down quite chatty and calm after all I'd had cardioversion only the previous year. I woke in cardiac intensive care being nursed one to one overnight, pipes from my neck also both arms and drains from my chest, my partner walked in and burst into tears when she saw me, I was wired to the intensive care equipment beeping away. I wondered if it gone wrong? No this was all part of the care, they covered everything, carb drinks before the op, adrenaline after the op. I had no pain and the next day I was on the ward, drains out, hand connection out but my lungs were very tight and I struggled to cough, the nurse informed me this was natural, they collapse the lungs and stop the heart, I had three puncture wounds either side. Sorry for the long winded explanation but that's how it was. And yes all worth it. I ended up in hospital a couple of days longer than expected as my 'infection markers' were quite high and they wouldn't let me go without being sure I was good to go. I was discharged on the Sunday but due to having a desk job and someone picking me up I returned to work for half days on the Weds of the same week. I have not pushed anything, gently increasing my exercise as advised. 6 weeks from the op' I attended my follow up at the hospital, bp good, ecg clear all bloods good so I was discharged.

[teach2learn in reply to johnk1956]

Yikes!! Are you saying something went wrong or was all that normal for your procedure? Because if that was normal for VATs, give me a catheter ablation every time!

[johnk1956]

Hi teach2learn, yes all completely normal, I was in a ward of open heart patients so felt a bit of a wimp compared to them. It was a blessing in some ways that I didn't know the 'full story', the open heart patients all had sedation prior to their ops to calm them, I went down quiet relaxed. At the time I said if had had known this before I wouldn't have had it done, but I suppose once the benefits start to kick in you soon forget the discomfort. I was under Sheffield Northern General all all the support staff even the community staff were professional, knowledgeable and showed caring natures.

[johnk1956]

Hi Aufgeblassen, I called it 'dreaded' because of it's side effects, I had night sweats and horrendously weird dreams which are nothing compared to possible thyroid damage, the hospital staff agreed it's a quite toxic medication, yes it does It's job but high iodine content makes it bad news over the long haul, I was informed it was OK up to 6 months, If you read up on it you will find numerous articles regarding side effects.

[MummyLuv]

Hi John, if you are still in this group I’d be really interested in your experience 5 years on with VATS. I’m likely to go down the surgical route and have a procedure booked in the US then I heard about Stephen Hunter and found your post. I am long term persistent afib and surgery in research papers has better success and holds longer, complication rates have dropped too.