Is Cryoablation worth it ?

[Wum1t1gs2s]

I have been booked in for a cryoablation. My consultant says the success rate is approx 80%, however, as I also have Cardiomyopathy he says the success rate drops to 50%. Is it worth putting myself through this?...My concern is I am taking Amiodarone and have began seeing side effects to it so cannot remain on this medication...Does anyone know the alternative from ablation or Amiodarone...

[BobD Volunteer]

Amiodarone is not a nice drug and should never be taken long term. It should be the drug of last resort so good to come off asap.

There are other antiarrhythmic drugs such as flecainide or propafanone alongside beta blockers but ablation is always a good thing to try. That said all treatment of AF is for quality of life (QOL) as it is not a life threatening condition.

[CDreamer]

Ablation helped for a while, drugs helped for a while but Pacemaker turned things around for me.

[captainKFF in reply to CDreamer]

Hi, was it pacemaker with node ablation or just pacemaker that turned things around? Appreciate your feedback.

[CDreamer in reply to captainKFF]

Pacemaker alone, I was booked for Ablation of AV node but I cancelled at the 6 week stage because all AF just went away. That was in 2018 & I can count on 1 hand the episodes since and all were when I had severe chest infection/COVID. QOL improved 100%. I believe it was because my HR steadied - used to jump all over the place , especially at night, as did my BP. Everything is now steady.

[captainKFF in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks for the info

[Hidden]

Often, a second ablation is required if the first one was unsuccessful. The key consideration would seem to be: how likely would a second ablation be to succeed if the first one, which has a success rate of 50%, fails? If success is highly likely on a second procedure it would seem to be fine to go ahead.

I would also doubly check what is meant by "success". I have been told that some EPs use this term to refer to the procedure being carried out in a technically correct manner rather than to the AF episodes being stopped, odd as that might seem.

[Jajarunner]

Papworth hospital quoted me a success rate of 50-60 percent. The alternative to amiadatone is dronedarone, but I probably spelt it wrong. Good luck x

[Thomas45]

The other alternative is Flecainide, which I took without any problems for 12 years . I haven't had any ablations.

[KMRobbo]

I had a cryoablation Jan29th 2018 . No Afib since. I have not taken any drugs since May 15 2018. I had no other co morbitities. And was 57.5 years oldI was quoted the 70% figure by my EP. I believe it to be some sort of General statistic.

However I would have had an ablation at 50% success rate to get rid of the drugs side effects, the hassle of getting an attack when on holiday or working away and the general faff when I got afib.

I wish the odds on winning the lottery were so high!

Best wishes whatever you decide.

[MarkS]

According to this study, whether you have heart failure or not doesn't make any difference to the success rate (about 84%):ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161...

Do you need to find a different consultant?

[BlueINR]

I would say yes, it's good that I had an ablation. I am allergic to amiodarone, and even if I were not I would not want to be taking it for any length of time, as Bob said, it should be the drug of last resort. My ablation procedure was uneventful, no problems at all and though I've had one or two other irregular rhythms, but not afib. I am glad I had the ablation.

[sanotrader1]

Its the best thing i ever did ! But it took me a long time to feel perfect again like a year . I would do again if needed .