I came across this worrying article which claims that ablation may cause cognitive decline: eplabdigest.com/articles/Br...
Not the sort of thing I wanted to read before my ablation which is likely to be in February. Has anyone noticed a decline in cognitive powers following their ablation?
I haven't read this but suspect it is likely old news. The "facts" I think are based on the days when anticoagulation was stopped a few days before ablation which is generally not the case now.
The reason was that it was thought that micro embolii formed by the burning during the process of ablation were perhaps causing micro vascular blockages resulting in a very small element of vascular dementia. If you study the science this does make sense which is why most EPs now do not stop anticoagulation and in the case of warfarin like your INR between 2.5 and 3.5 as was mine in August.
Of course if you have GA which I have for all of my ablations it can take several months to clear the system and brain fog is common.
Having had four ablations and several other operations with GA totally over 20 hours in the last fifteen years I'm probably doomed!
Merry Christmas.
Thanks for this reply. I have cut and pasted it and will raise the points in it when I speak to an EP.
I am having a GA for my ablation (I was told the choice was mine, but they seem to have forgotten this and assumed that I am going to have it). The GA is the reason the procedure is so delayed ( plus, probably, my telling them to place me as far *back* in the queue as possible). The GA likely makes the procedure more risky (although Bart’s cardiac nurses insist that their procedures are so “streamlined” that this is not the case). My experience with sedation (not for AF) is that it has very little effect. A pity they cannot use alcohol which would be just as effective and would probably induce the AF needed for the procedure. Have a great Christmas!
My EP said that having a GA made the procedure safer, as he could concentrate purely on that and not worry about me moving around or being in discomfort. Of course the GA itself has risks but not as many as in the past.
Samazeuith Have read the document and my interpretation of the script you refer to would seem to challenge validity of the claim?
The article is over 6 years old and things have moved on. Cryoballoon Ablation is now a common procedure.
I’m going to ask an EP about the article. Thanks for the reply- you may well be right.
Thanks for posting & Seasons Greetings!
My GP told me that uncontrolled AF is bad for your little grey cells so case of rock and hard place I fear.
I noticed my concentration and memory was rubbish on my pills. Not so much now, though I can blame toddler.
Try this and you might not need an ablation:
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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate (afternoon) exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??
I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.
Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer
PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:
In this trial, warfarin was stopped before ablation and heparin bridging was used. Heparin bridging does not work well:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/303...
and
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/303...
It is really important to continue anticoagulation uninterrupted during an ablation. Some EPs still interrupt warfarin or NOAC and this is now out of date. So it's worth checking with your EP that they do not interrupt.
I haven't noticed any cognitive decline since my ablation 10 years ago. Some of my work involves running day long training sessions, which are quite exhaustive and challenging. Attendees have to score me afterwards and my scores have actually improved from before the ablation. Mind you, my ablation was under sedation rather than GA, which I'm sure helps.
Ah thats what did it --3 ablations and wait a minute what was the question again??
C'mon, it's six years old. Anesthesia requirements and drugs used to put one under are constantly changing and being updated. I was under for almost eight hours last time around and showed no cognitive decline, one day out or nine months out.
It’s not necessarily the anaesthesia, it’s the ablation process itself. The article may be six years old, but I don’t know for sure that that alone makes the finding obsolete. Of course, AF itself may result in cognitive decline if unchecked.
Okay, right. I have had AF for more than 30 years, and do not think my memory or cognition has lessened. And I have had 3 ablations too.
That’s encouraging to hear!
No cognitive decline here....I dont think! X
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