A Flutter Question left or right atrium

[perkman]

It's been 2 months since my 2nd ablation. A flutter ablation was done on first ablation but not on 2nd due to cardiac tamponade after afib portion was completed.

Tuesday of this week I noticed tachycardia during exercise session, 126 bpm. I checked my Kardia and it showed Tachycardia no afib. Rhythm was fine.

I contacted EP and he told me to try flecanaide which I hadn't been using. It didn't work and I went in for EKG.

He called me back since he was not in office at the time and said I was in aflutter and would need cardioversion.

Friday morning cardioversion done and successful. I didn't get all my questions answered as meds kicked in as I was asking and he was gone for ablation appt.

He said flutter could be in right or left atrium. He could check during ablation to correct if I wanted to or go through cardioversion when it happens again. Aflutter might not happen for days or months no way to know. New circuit he said.

My question is had anyone heard of flutter in left atrium and how hard is it to find and correct. I thought it was in right atrium but internet says can be in left. How can it be determined where it is? Could 2nd ablation have caused this? I hadn't had aflutter after my first ablation

Sorry for long post.

[Jetjockey]

I was treated for both AFib in the left atrium and classic flutter in the right.

I still had flutter and afib after my first ablation.

Went into a second ablation after 15 months.

Was in flutter at the start of the procedure. When they started to correct the PVI lines in the left atrium the flutter stopped in its’ tracks and never came back.

Free 4 months now

[perkman in reply to Jetjockey]

Thank you for the info. Glad you're well.

[KMRobbo]

How did hey KNOW you had tamponadeduring the 2nd ablation? Did you already have it prior to the ablation? Is it gone now?

[perkman in reply to KMRobbo]

Blood pressure suddenly dropped to 70/20 due to pressure on heart.

[KMRobbo in reply to perkman]

Wow. Is it all cleared now?

[perkman in reply to KMRobbo]

Yes. It was corrected immediately.

[Roseyuk in reply to KMRobbo]

A tapenade, is a rupture of the heart lining, I had one on my second ablation..

Had to have a drain put in, and stay in hospital for extra two days..

You cannot have further ablations after them puncturing you’re heart lining, as far as I know... 🙁

[perkman in reply to Roseyuk]

My EP told me tamponade was a one off event. No problem having another ablation.

[kbog]

As it was explained to me after my first afib ablation 3 months ago, sometimes an afib ablation can result in “atypical” flutter during the recovery period. If this occurs, it is not indicative of failure or final outcome, but is the result of temporary risk (inherent in the healing process) and should be addressed with cardioversion promptly because this type of flutter is less prone to self-conversion than afib is.

[perkman in reply to kbog]

Great. Thanks for the info.

[kbog]

Actually I will correct myself because I went back and looked at my own notes. Everything I said is true, but the doc did also say that IF the atypical flutter persists beyond the blanking period (or if it surfaces years later, which also sometimes happens), it may indicate the need for a touch-up ablation, which he said would typically be a more minor procedure in terms of the duration of the procedure (and hence recovery would be easier).

[perkman in reply to kbog]

I read that would be the case. Just wanted a confirmation. I took flecanaide when it happened but I did not revert to NSR as you mentioned. I had a cardioversion which was successful. I am 2 months in blanking period so hoping no more problems.

Thank You

[songbird74]

I went in for a top up ablation 18 months after my first a fib ablation as I developed a flutter which didn’t self correct. had the second ablation 3 weeks ago and like you say the ep found the flutter immediately in the left atrium and zapped it and it stopped

One week later I started getting flutter but flecanIde stopped it each time. Am now in third week and have been free for a week so just hoping this was just blanking period reaction and that it has gone away but time will tell.

[perkman]

Hope yours is gone. I have had no issues in 2 months except for the flutter I just had. Like you say wait and see.