Post ablation potentials

[F-M-C-MM]

I had an ablation 2 months ago, and discovered that all 4 pulmonary veins were successfully isolated but that there were a few areas/ potentials that couldn't be treated. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Perhaps the doctor felt there was a risk attached to ablating the area. I fear a return of A Fib as a second ablation may not be possible if the potentials couldn't be controlled in the first ablation. I believe one danger is the possibility of causing stenosis when ablating at the opening to the pulmonary vein. Would love to hear from others with similar experiences.

[rosyG]

I think you are right about reluctance to cause stenosis but I'm sure you'll find a great improvement as main pathways have been blocked. May not be perfect but will reduce amount of AF I hope. Let us know how you get on

[BobD Volunteer]

First question is was this a cryo ablation or RF? As I am sure you will have read cryo can only deal with the four pulmonary veins so if there are other areas firing you may subsequently need an RF ablation to deal with them. This may well be why the EP was unable to at the time as it needs different equipment.

It is quite a common situation which I warn about regularly.

[F-M-C-MM in reply to BobD]

Hi Bob, it was a wide antrum circumferential radiofrequency ablation.

[Jase999]

I had a cryo ablation at the end of July. Following the procedure, the ep said he was unable to treat all of the areas and that this had reduced the possible success rate down from 85% - 90%, to about 75%. The reason given was that my phrenic nerve was too close to one of the pulmonary vein entrances. (I was under general anaesthetic for the procedure and he said when they get too close to the nerve, the patient starts hiccupping which gives them a good indication to back off from that area. They also used a TOE to accurately view the location of the catheta's business end). He said that he was hoping this was enough to stop my paroxysmal AF. 3 months in and I haven't felt anything near what the palpitations felt like pre op, so I'm feeling positive.

The ep did say that if they found that I still had AF after the 5 month checkup, that they would not be able to perform another cryo ablation and that it would have to be a Radio Frequency ablation to target a specific area.

Sorry for the long winded reply!

Jason

[Kiwi2]

I had a cryo ablation January 2015 where the entrance of all 4 pulmonary veins isolated and was told the day after that I may need another as they weren't able to reach other areas with the balloon. It helped enormously and I am having an RF ablation on Monday. Bella