Pulmonary vein stenosis

[Nomis21]

Hi, Anyone know about pulmonary vein stenosis, Symptoms and anyone been diagnosed following ablation?

[BobD Volunteer]

I know it is a very rare listed possible side effect of ablation if the burns are made too deeply in the entrances to any of the four pulmonary veins. In the nearly nineteen years I've been involved with AF I have never actually heard of a case.

[mjames1]

Known complication but under 1%.

[Ppiman]

There are many reports on the internet but I think most are from many years ago when ablations were done rather differently. It occurs when the scarring is taken too close to the pulmonary veins, where it is thought AF can originate. I have read that the problem for the EP is that the anatomy of the veins can vary a lot between individuals, with their number and position changing.

Steve

[MummyLuv]

I had a cryoablation in Aug 2021, very quickly afterwards I was struggling to breath, when I tried to speak I was coughing for breath. I went back to my EP and they sent me for a CT scan to check for pulmonary vein stenosis. This is where the pulmonary vein itself (rather than where it meets the heart) gets ablated and starts to collapse (obvs full closure is fatal so if it is suspected they need to get a CT scan done asap so they can fix with a stent).

This was coming out of covid and took 3 months for an urgent scan date on the nhs and 6 weeks privately. A very worrying time for me I have to say. Anyway the scan showed my pulmonary veins were open. I was still struggling to breathe 2 months later. Taking a deep breath was impossible.

Turned out it wasn’t my pulmonary vein that was hit it was my phrenic nerve that was clipped, equally as dangerous as it’s the main nerve from your diaphragm to your lungs, fortunately we have two but when on,y one is working you struggle to breath properly. I live to tell the tale. Both of these issues are extremely rare!!

It made me wary of a second ablation (which had a low success rate for my persistent afib anyway) and I researched for a better option for me.

If you are worried, speak to your EP asap, quick action is critical!