Atrial Flutter

[Marcus30]

4 months after my first ablation I have officially been diagnosed with persistent atrial flutter. Is there another forum for "flutter" sufferers or is that dealt with here?

Apparently I need a second ablation to deal with that, but that's booked in for 3 months time!

in the meantime I have to put up with this problem which is more unpleasant than the fibrillation I had the original ablation for. (mainly because it does not stop!)

Many others here had flutter as a result of ablation +/- a successful 2nd ablation for the flutter?

cheers,

Marcus.

[Hidden]

This is the one you want. Flutter is a common consequence of ablation, but is often fixed by a “touch up” second ablation. Mine hasn’t been.

[Marcus30 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Oyster, but you say you have had flutter after ablation but your flutter has not been fixed by a second ablation? Can I ask if you were in persistent flutter and how long you were like that before your 2nd ablation?

I have to wait 3 months and I wonder if that time decreases the chance of cleaning it up.

Cheers,

Marcus

[Hidden in reply to Marcus30]

Hi Marcus

I had persistent flutter for 3 months before ablation. Because of the state of my left atrium at the first, I was told it was 50:50 whether the second would work. Usually a touch up is much more successful.

And yes I do believe that long delays can impact success rates. Here on the NHS, from first referral it can be over a year to get an ablation. I had to wait 4 months for a DCCV.

[Marcus30 in reply to Hidden]

Whoa, 4 mths just for a DCCV?

im having one tomorrow, last one gave me 3 weeks nsr before flutter returned.

Apparently I can just keep having DCCV until my 2nd ablation in Feb.

here we can just go to emergency and get it done! (hopefully!)

Did the dvvc revert you from flutter for a period of time?

And is your flutter debilitating?

mine is and not sure I can live with it if I can't cure it

[Hidden in reply to Marcus30]

Eventuallly I saw another consultant who said it was unlikely I would have any lasting benefit from cardioversion. He said risks with DCCV were small, but if I had a cardiac arrest, like BobD, there would be consultants around to resuscitate me. At that point I bailed out.

And yes, the flutter with some AF thrown in, is debilitating. However that is a relative concept, and I can do all the usual stuff, but not so much of the fun stuff, particularly where more than gentle exercise is involved. I'm hoping to find medication that might help when combined with my Nebivolol, possibly Digoxin.

[Ianc2]

I had an ablation for flutter after a heart valve repair. It was successful and all went well. I later returned to afib after taking anti histamines and it has become permanent. However it is not bad, more of irritation than anything, especially when trying to take blood pressure - purple arms and all that.

[007talullah]

I’ve had two ablations. The first to fix PAF. It worked for about a year. Then I developed ectopics that devolved in to an atrial flutter after about another six months. The atrial flutter eventually kicked off AF. So I went back for a second ablation to sort out the tacchy. While they were at it they went back to the pulmonary veins and took care of some reconnections. I’m now almost two years post the 2nd ablation and have started throwing an etopic every 5 beats or so. I woke up in AF about a week ago. I’ll gladly go back for another ablation if it comes to that.

Good luck with your next ablation!

Lani

[Marcus30 in reply to 007talullah]

Thanks Lani,

How long did your AF last?

And could you just end up with far less AF than previously (hopefully),

or would you ablate again as soon as possible to increase the chance of further success?

[007talullah in reply to Marcus30]

Do you mean how long did my most recent AF last? It was about 6 hours. I went to A&E to get a 12 lead ECG of the AF because it took me by surprise after being in rhythm for so long. The doc and I were discussing what we should do when I spontaneously CV. The doc said ‘OMG, I’m so boring that talking to me slowed your HR so much you cardioverted’ Lol. It was very funny.

After each ablation I’ve had dramatic reductions in AF incidence. For me, increasing frequency of ectopics are associated with AF. So I would ablate asap if they could zap the ectopics as this would stop the precursor to AF.

I’ve only been experiencing these ectopics for about 4 weeks. They appeared about 18 months post my last ablation. I will go and get a holter monitor recording so the cardiac load of these ectopics can be calculated and from that I’ll discuss options with my EP.

They will suggest atenolol and flecainide but experience over the last 5 years tells me that this will work for about six months and then arrhythmia will break through again. So I will push for a top up ablation if it can be done.

I feel much better about my AF when I’m advocating for myself. I dislike feeling infantilised by over-busy experts who want to hurry on to the next patient. This forum is a fantastic support to my goal of informed decision making.

Good luck with your next ablation!

Lani

[hock217 in reply to 007talullah]

R u in U.S.?

[007talullah in reply to hock217]

No - New Zealand

[hock217]

Not a big meat eater and prefer adding hot water to well browned roast with onion, garlic etc.

[007talullah in reply to hock217]

Don’t forget to add a little marmite for max umami