Just had telephone consultation with EP

[Maisiemay13]

Hi just had telephone call with EP who has advised a CRYOABLATION as my AF is now more frequent,he explained it very well including the downside of any operation which has stopped me agreeing to this before,I have agreed this time any advice is welcome and also about recovery my son has already asked this question.

[BobD Volunteer]

Look at two fact sheets on preparing for and recovering from ablation which we produced a while ago and then ask any questions you may have remaining.

hearthrhytmalliance.org/res...

heartrhythmalliance.org/res....

bob

[Maisiemay13 in reply to BobD]

Thank you I will

[Hidden]

Generally, recovery from a Cryoablation is easier than from a RF Ablation and the procedure also tends to take less time. This can sometimes encourage patients to do far more than they should which is why it’s important to follow the advice in the factsheets. The heart still takes a fairly high degree of trauma and needs time to properly heal.......good luck!

[MarkS]

A cryoablation is only able to treat AF with originates from the pulmonary veins and then some PVs may be too large to be treated safely. As long as you've only had AF for a relatively short time (a year or two) it has a good chance of success. It's a good first step but may require further work later.

[Maisiemay13 in reply to MarkS]

Hi Mark thank you for your reply I was diagnosed June last year i have no idea where my AF originates from have had echo and ct !

[MarkS in reply to Maisiemay13]

Hi Maisie, it is most probably your PVs and as you've only had AF for a relatively short period of time, it probably won't have spread to other areas of the heart. So you've got a good chance of getting it fixed, but follow Bob's fact sheets.

[Maisiemay13 in reply to MarkS]

I have no idea as to how long if I did have it before diagnosis as it’s only been the last couple of months I have noticed it happening before that it was fine ! I feel you have to put your trust in people who deal with this daily so as scared as I am if this will only get more frequent then now is this time. I will follow Bobs advice thank you

[Beta44 in reply to MarkS]

I had cryoablation after more than 20 years of Paroxysmal AF. It worked and I’ve had 5 years AF free.

Peter

[Maisiemay13 in reply to Beta44]

Thank you for your reply that’s good to hear

[wilsond]

And if you've had it longer than one or two years is there any point then in having it done?

If it's just quality of life?

[xr1450 in reply to wilsond]

See Beta44's reply above....

And I quote......."I had cryoablation after more than 20 years of Paroxysmal AF. It worked and I’ve had 5 years AF free."

[Jajarunner]

I had my cryoablation on 20 May and it is going very well. I'm three weeks and while I had three bad days on the trot, generally I am recovering well and able to do most gentle versions of things - housework, (no vacuuming), very short 10 min walks, gentle yoga and stretching. I'm hopi g for three months for a full ish recovery. I've been a bit breathless at times and panicked a bit, but spoke to the afib nurses and they said what I was doing was "absolutely perfect" as recovery. They dont like you to be completely immobile. You can read my previous posts for more details if it helps 😀😀. Good luck if you de ide to go ahead.

[Maisiemay13 in reply to Jajarunner]

Thank you so pleased to hear about your recovery,I have agreed yesterday to go ahead did forget to ask about recovery as I still work part time so it’s very good to hear from you.

Take care

[KMRobbo]

I had a PVI cryo ablation Jan 29 2018. No afib since. Been off all drugs since May15 2018

[Maisiemay13 in reply to KMRobbo]

Thank you for your reply so pleased it worked for you

[KMRobbo]

And i very much hope it works you! Best wishes.

[Maisiemay13 in reply to KMRobbo]

Thank you

[cuore]

Hurrah for your EP for placing you on an ablation path because you say "my AF is more frequent." AF begets AF, so it would be a matter of time before you would go persistent whereby you would need more than one ablation. Timewise, you are in a very good position. I am not sure if by "downside" you mean complication percentage or recovery period. The complication percentage is very low (your EP must have already given it).

[Maisiemay13 in reply to cuore]

Hi yes he told me any operation has risk,he put me at ease and as I have just had another episode lasting 10 hours after only two weeks since the last I just want it done.

Thank you for your reply

[cuore]

Wonderful! You sound as if you have a great EP which is most important. Things will go smoothly. I speak from experience because I have had three. Another aspect of complications is the skill and experience of the EP. It sounds like your EP has a lot of ablations behind his belt.

[Maisiemay13 in reply to cuore]

I think so he said he had done lots

[djbgatekeeper]

Go for it ... After 20 odd years of irregular beats and AF I had a Cryoablation in September 2018, best move I ever made. I've been on a gradual improvement since then and now I get a couple of single palpatations a day and nothing else. I wish you the best of luck.

[Maisiemay13 in reply to djbgatekeeper]

Thank you that sounds very positive