Questions on 2nd Ablation

[Slattery]

I agreed to having a 2nd ablation, and now I must say I am nervous about what can go wrong. My doctor told me he will use heat this time as he used cold in the first ablation. Can anyone tell me why heat may work this time? Thank you in advanced for all the support you have given.

[pottypete1]

I think by heat he means radio-frequency ablation which does burn the inside of the heart to form scarring that interferes with your rogue electrical impulses.

I am a bit of an exception but I have had 7 ablations all done with radio-frequency. I did not find them too difficult, you might guess that as I didn’t stop at one.

The procedure, whilst they will read you a whole list of potential side effects, is very safe.

Whilst the majority of ablations give a significant improvement after one ablation, two ablations is really not uncommon and all being well should be of great benefit to you in the long run.

Pete

[CDreamer]

Cryoablation (freezing) uses a balloon which can cover larger areas whereas heat or RF ablation uses a wire with a much smaller surface area so will be more accurate but means the procedure can sometimes take longer. It’s not unusual for 2nd Ablation to be an RF ablation simply because of the accuracy so may get to places the balloon missed. Often referred to as a ‘touch up’ ablation.

I really don’t think there is a difference in the risk factors.

[BobD Volunteer]

Cryo which uses a balloon filled with freezing gas has limitations in that the balloon can oly scar the places it touches. Fine if your signals only come from the four pulmonary veins and you have nice regular veins but RF is often needed as a follow on 2nd ablation to deal with areas missed by the balloon.

[Slattery]

This information really helped me understand difference in the RT ablation. Thank you all!

[jeanjeannie50]

I see you've had your answer to having a heat procedure this time, so I will address your feeling nervous. It's all quite normal to feel that way once we get our ablation date.

When I had my first ablation, I was on a high and not really that worried at all. I thought I was going to be cured!!!.

For my second I was perhaps not quite as confident.

For my third, my youngest daughter had told me off for agreeing to have another one. I felt sure it was a sign that something terrible was going to happen and worried (thank goodness I was only given a few days notice of the date). Was rang on the Friday to say go in the following Wednesday Shouldn't have worried though as it was my most successful ablation.

Worry/anxiety is a normal part of human life, you'd have to be a robot not to feel that way. All those "What ifs" race through our heads, but afterwards we usually say there was nothing to it.

Jean