Ablation left side

[Tapanac]

I had an ablation apparently on the right side, but still keep having attacks of afib/tachycardia which take me into hospital by ambulance as an emergency.

The consultant telephoned me yesterday and said that he thought another ablation was probably necessary as I couldn't go on having these increasing attacks. However he said that the left side was very risky and a hard long procedure. Risky in that it could cause heart attack, stroke, bleeding.

I did say that the last consultant at St George said the same thing during the initial interview, but it was OK. He replied yes, but that was on the right side.

Question and help please (and I know we cannot give medical advice), but has anyone had this particular ablation. I'm sure I can't be the only one.

Especially worried as one cardiologist said he wanted to do a pacemaker, but the EP wanted this other ablation.

Best wishes all

[BobD Volunteer]

What you have already had would sound like an ablation for flutter which is usually in the right atrium. Fibrillation is always in the left requiring a puncture of the septum and it is the normal thing one thinks of when ablation is mentioned. I've had four for different arrhythmias and I know people here who have had six.

The doctors only tell you the things that might happen so you can't sue them but so far in fifteen or more years I have yet to hear of anybody dying from ablation and serious complications are extremely rare. Of course if it is your time then its your time whatever. I was lucky to survive a several million to one experience a few years ago that although listed as a risk has never been known to any of the doctors I meet through this game. I think it was fate reminding me I am not immortal whatever I might think. lol

[Tapanac in reply to BobD]

Thank you Bob. Like all of us I’m worrying about the unknown.

The EP who did my original ablation was very pleasant, but other than the initial consultation and also during the procedure when he was in operating gear when he really didn’t speak to me, he never came to see me before or after the procedure so until recently when I was transferred from St George’s, because too much Covid there, and saw the new doctor I have never known what I actually had.

I was nervous then and after what the new doctor said, I feel even more nervous.

Thank you for "talking" to me and you stay well

[pottypete1]

I agree with Bob.

I am one of the folk that has had 5 ablations for AF the one in the left atrium.

I also have had 1 ablation for Atrial Tachycardia also in the left atrium together with an ablation for Atrial Flutter in the right atrium.

7 ablations in all.

As you can tell I am still here to tell the tale.

I think more than worrying about the dangers of ablation you should concentrate on getting the right EP at the right hospital who has the confidence and experience to safely carry out these very complex procedures.

Pete

[Tapanac in reply to pottypete1]

Thank you Pete. Trouble is I was with St George’s which is a good hospital and a recommended EP, but because I am shielded he didn’t want me to go back to St George’s so transferred me to another recommended EP/cardiologist nearer home.

As I said before he didn’t have the best bedside manner (well no manner at all as I didn’t actually see him except for pre consultation), but he was recommended by my cardiologist who was retiring.

Thank you for answering.

[pottypete1 in reply to Tapanac]

Doesn’t sound good.

I would be inclined to wait for things to settle down more if you are not experiencing bad symptoms.

At the end of the day you need to have confidence in the EP. It is a very skilled procedure which needs the right EP and the right equipment.

Pete

[Tapanac in reply to pottypete1]

Yes you’re right, but as you know you’re never sure when the beast might attack and to keep being taken into hospital by ambulance can only go on for so long I guess. I will hang on though thank you

[Buffafly in reply to Tapanac]

Where did you go? I had a similar experience with an EP but he was one of the best so I felt I could do without the bedside manner.

[Buffafly in reply to Buffafly]

Sorry, bit confused, I should ask which hospital your new EP is at.

[Tapanac in reply to Buffafly]

Was st St. George’s tooting London but transferred to St. Peter’s chertsey surrey. Where is your hospital??

[Buffafly in reply to Tapanac]

I live in Taunton but my EP was at Harefield, only had a phone consult then saw him briefly just before I was discharged and that was only because I was found to have a bit of pericardial effusion.

[Tapanac in reply to Buffafly]

Stay well now

[KMRobbo]

I have had an ablation both sides, one for a fib one for flutter a month apart - both succesful so far. 2 years 8 months

For the left side which was a pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) cryoablation my EP told me I was a good candidate for a successful ablation and if so would not need to take drugs after, then trotted out all the stats quickly and very directly, quoted all the percentages of each problem and asked if I wanted to continue! I was slightly suprised and asked him to repeat the 'bad' possibilities and said 'yes' as soon as he had finished. I realised it's a standard list he has to warn on. I was by this time in my AF journey fed up with hospitals, fed up with worrying about afib kicking off when on holiday or working away, and very fed up with drugs side effects.

I was 57 years old in otherwise in good health with no other co morbitities.

The afib ablation was longer than the flutter ablation but I understand the cryo is quicker than radio frequency (RF) for a PVI however it depends also on which part of your heart is being ablated.

I had the ablations under mild sedation. I found the experience quite interesting and did not notice the time passing do much anyway ( well not until I had to lies still for 4 hours whilst my groin healed! ) . IMO from your perspective the time is mostly irrelevant as you sound as If you have spent longer going to hospital.

Best wishes

[Tapanac in reply to KMRobbo]

Thank you very much. Wouldn’t it be nice to not take any pills. It makes me think if my EP says go ahead maybe I will as it’s so disconcerting to think if ever we can go on holiday or do things again with this virus, an attack might come on. Thank you

PS...which hospital did you have your ablations as your EP sounds good

[wilsond in reply to Tapanac]

UHCW (Walsgrave Coventry) is good too

[KMRobbo]

Royal Stoke.

I would ask your EP some more questions about what you are having ablated, and why he /she thinks its a good idea which may help you.

The other thing you need to consider, which I idiotically omitted from my reply, is that NOT HAVING an ablation is not without risks either. AFIB begets AFIB. Having AFIB attacks make you more likely to have AFib attacks, (I understand this is atrial remodelling) which can then cause other issues. I knew this was the case for me as the attacks which were always high rate became more frequent over 20 months and the 12th attack would not stop , so I was stuck in high rate AFib 130 to 195 BPM resting for the best part of 8 days and was only converted by a flecainide infusion in the local hospital Coronany Care Unit. I was then put on daily flecainide rhythm control with Diltiazem rate control. (was lightly medicated on verapamil prior to that which had no side effects) . It was at that point I decided an ablation was the way forward (contrary to my views of "no you are not burning MY heart" of only a short time previously). The side effects from diltiazem confirmed this decision further.

This progression element may also be a subject to discuss with your EP.

Now I am not medically trained, so I can only recount what happened to me, and everyone is different with AFib, but your frequent trips to hospital do seem similar to myself. I had to go owing to the high rate, but I was not ill with AFib, as apart from the high rate I was asymptomatic. (8 days of it did wipe me out though).

Best wishes.