Ablation of the nerve endings of the heart

[Suzanne-Cheshire]

Is there anyone who has had Ganglionated Plexi ablation (ablation of the nerve endings of the heart) for paroxysmal AF, with or without the standard Pulmonary Vein Isolation, who is willing to share their recovery experience?

[BobD Volunteer]

One of our number had such with Sabine Ernst a year or so ago but has since departed. no longer needing our help I suspect. I do not recall him mentioning any problems during recovery which is pretty standard as per our fact sheet. If he still looks in from time to time he may answer your question.

[Suzanne-Cheshire in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bob. I was only wondering because I've taken part in a research project where the two are done together. I was assuming that the recovery would be pretty standard.

[Cat04]

Interested in this post as I am on the waiting list at South West Cardiothoracic Centre, Derriford for the very same for Dr Prapa Kanagaratnam's study (Imperial College London)

[Gemval]

I took part in a study 2 years ago under Dr Kanagaratnam at Hammersmith Hospital. Don t know if I had the GP ablation or the normal RF they don't tell you.

Recovery was as normal I think but unfortunately left my AF worse. Had another RF ablation a year later. Much better outcome.

[Cat04 in reply to Gemval]

Glad you got a good outcome with the 2nd ablation. I have been told that I won't be told which procedure I have but if it fails (AF for more than 3 hours and captured on ecg) the pulmonary vein ablation will then be carried out.

[Suzanne-Cheshire in reply to Gemval]

Thanks for your reply. I'm under the same consultant and had mine at Hammersmith too. The project is a PhD research project. I don't know if I had only the standard redo PVI or the GP too. Apparently I will find out in 12 months after my outcome has been documented as it is a randomised research project (50:50 chance). I was wondering how the GP additional ablation might help. I have googled GP ablation but can't find much info in layman's terms of the role of the GP in relation to AF. It's all very technical.

[Cat04 in reply to Suzanne-Cheshire]

This is taken from my study info sheet:

The standard catheter ablation technique (PVI) involves making a series of tiny burns within the left atrium, which seeks to disconnect the electrical activity in the four veins from the rest of the left atrium.

The purpose of this study is to investigate an alternative catheter ablation technique which involves a slightly different treatment. Rather than making a series of tiny burns around each of the 4 veins in the left atrium, the technique we are studying GP ablation, will involve making tiny burns at the collection of specific nerve endings in the left atrium. Destroying the collection of these nerve endings can be helpful in eliminating the abnormal electrical activity.

If you have the GP ablation, we will look to treat only the specific triggers to your AF, unlike PVI where we ablate around all 4 pulmonary veins without testing for triggers. There is often less ablation required to treat the GP compared to the PVI procedure, which may prevent larger scar formation in your heart.

Hope this helps ☺

[Suzanne-Cheshire in reply to Cat04]

Thank you

[Pita]

I don't know if this link would help, onlinejacc.org/content/62/2...... I found it in an old email which i saved back in 2013. I had a what my EP said was a vagal nerve isolation with my last ablation in 2011. Also a you tube vid is here youtube.com/watch?v=uX6hDqx...(Not working as expected?) It starts at 21.56 mins.... Pam

[Suzanne-Cheshire in reply to Pita]

Thank you