AF Ablation at a London hospital - Cryo vs RF vs Pulsed Field

[Gladstone001]

3 weeks ago, I had my 4th heart ablation at a famous London hospital. This ablation was NHS and the earlier ones were private but same theatre, same professionals and a bed on a ward rather than a private room. I went in for a Pulsed Field ablation to re-isolate the Pulmonary veins (PV). I was very keen on the lower risk PF technique. My usual EP was not available for the Op so it was undertaken by a Cardio/EP unknown to me. On arrival he informed me that he did not recommend a PFA as all he could do with the available catheters was to isolate the PV’s (just like the cryo catheters) and he could not do any touch-up or fill-in lesions. He wanted to use RF as that provided him with most flexibility to “touch-up” my atria. I agreed and he performed a 1.25hr ablation (quite short – previous ops have been 4hrs+) where he mapped my heart and re-blocked a broken line and formed a new line to block other stray currents. My PV’s were still isolated (from my previous ablations) and did not require any attention. He performed a trans-septal puncture and checked both atria.

I felt fine after the op (assisted by paracetamol!) and went home same day although it did take some hours to stop the groin bleeding and I had a lot of bruising. 3 days later, I had a 72 hour run of AF which was very uncomfortable and since then I have remained in NSR although I have had maybe 50 ectopic beats (in the form of “chest thumps”!) over the last week.

I am feeling optimistic! I have a future 3month appointment to review the op and its impact. I really hope I can reduce or eliminate my intake of beta-blockers.

I hope my write-up helps others still to make the decision over ablations.

Gladstone.

[Buzby62]

Excellent explanation and good information to take on board for anyone that might need a touch up ablation in the future. Thanks

Best wishes

[Lenlec]

fingers crossed Interesting to hear about why he didn’t use pulse field

[Ppiman]

It sounds as if you were treated brilliantly. Let's hope this is the end of AF for you!

Steve