Last Wednesday I had a Right Heart Catheterisation to measure the pressures in my heart and lungs, then merrily went off skiing on Saturday (with my consultant's blessing!) hoping to forget about my recently-diagnosed Atrial Septal Defect and looming OHS.
The hospital called me while I was having a Vin Chaud at a mountain cafe to merrily inform me that they want to bring me in for a Trans Oesophageal Echocardiogram, to get a better took at the remaining septum between my left and right atrial. It's put a bit of a dampener on my holiday!
Then ACHD nurse said they'd give me a bit of local at the back of my throat to help it bother me less, and maybe sedate me. I'm not exactly looking forward to it 😔 does anyone have any (not too horrendous) experience of having one? I had hoped to start a new job next week and it's all a bit unexpected.
Thanks everyone!
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LadyZ13
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Yes, I've had one. It's pretty harmless. They spray some crap into the back of your throat which tastes vile, but then they give you pethidine and you are pretty much unaware of the procedure. They said I would have a sure throat after but I didn't really notice it
Thanks Bobkins99 - is the pethidine a sedative? How long did it take to wear off? Could you get back to work the same day, and how long until you could drive?
Hi. Yes it is. Have to be completely honest though, I didn't like it at all. Not something you want to hear though is it? Others may be different! We have to do what is needed though so.... ! I came Home the same day but they did keep me there for a good while after. Best of Luck 🤞
Hi ..there doesn't seem to be a standard amount of sedation offered going by the different experience people have ...some people are virtually asleep and some are wide awake...hope they knock me out !!
I had something similar(they dropped a tiny camera down apparently) to check the 'condition' of the back of my heart before I had a hole in the heart closed. It was mildly uncomfortable and they sedated me...... the doc. was watching on a computer. in another room nearby.Soon over and the lovely doc came and stroked my brow and reasured me very sweetly. Well worth it!
Thanks 10gingercats - I feel like at every multi disciplinary meeting they come up with something new to call me in for while they decide how to close this heart hole! Hope I get a lovely doctor for this one too...
If your hole is uncomplicated they will do it via a catheter through the groin.Mine was done like this. So it took approx 3/4 hour and I was home the same evening.No general just a sedation and some morphine as they were finishing.Back to bed for a few hours ...it was then around 3 pm and home at 9pm.Into bed and up like a lark the next morning feeling fine.
I would love that, if it were possible! After my last echo the consultant said my hole was too big to fix subcutaneously and I should expect to need OHS. Hole is 30mm across and there's little septum to attach to! But we'll see; I guess they don't want to put me through OHS if there's any other way.
Yes I agree it is not really a big thing and I am really not good with medical stuff. I found a little video of what was involved using google. Think it was on either BHF or nhs website or linked through from one. They cut away at the key momentYou are mildly sedated and just don’t look. You are aware vaguely of what is going on. You need someone there for afterwards as you may be a bit woozy still. I would not go into work or drive but should ask your cardiologist doing the procedure. Hope it goes well. It is really valuable as the doctor can see the heart much better
I felt fine afterwards but about 3 hours later I felt ill and couldn't stop shaking. Had to lie on the floor in a blanket for a few hours till it passed off. Maybe shock.
I had throat spray and the sedative Midazolam.I was very anxious about it beforehand .I didn't remember anything other than being told to swallow at the beginning of procedure. As long as you have sedation you will be fine.Good luck🙂
I also had the banana tasting throat spray which doesn't taste nice. I had sedation but was pretty much aware of what was going on all the time. Not something I would chose to do for a "fun day out", but survived it. Sedation doesn't last long at all and back to "normal" fairly immediately.
Wow, that's quite a lot bigger than I expected! I think I was spoiled with the tiny pressure sensor of the Right Heart Cath and assumed everything would be that tiny... 😝
Hi LadyZ13 I also had this done at St Thomas in London. The gave me a mild sedative and a spray to the back of the throat. Then told me to lie on my side whilst they inserted the camera. Ro be honest the worst thing about the whole procedure was the taste of the spray.
Once it was over they kept me in until they were happy that the effects of the sedative had worn off, around 30 min if I recall.
My ASD was also around 30mm but the attempt to close it via the groin failed and I ended up having open heart surgery to fix the ASD and remove the closure device. Some 5 months later I am back to normal but not as breathless as I was before the closure. Don't worry too much you will be looked after.
I've just read your story on this - crikey. I don't want my story to follow that same narrative - as I see our ASDs are / were similar sizes. What a difficult time that must have been for you.Did they give you any reason as to why the closure device had moved? Was it because the ASD was too big?
As I understand it, it was the position of the ASD not the size that was the issue. This meant that there was not enough heart tissue for the closure device to hold onto. This did not become clear until the device decided to move which resulted in open heart surgery. My surgeon said that the catheter closure is very successful and that he only sees one or two device failures a year. Recovery at first was slow but once I was home it speeded up.
As I say it has been 5 months since the surgery and I am feeling very good with no issues to worry about.
Im sure you will be fine and if the surgeon is right then mr ASD failure will mean this years failure quota has been reached .
That's interesting, thank you for sharing. Mine looked to have very little septal tissue for attaching the device when the consultant showed me the echo, less than 5mm each side. But I guess the TOE is to confirm this.Great to hear about the low failure rate of the catheter device, I'll have to sneak mine into 2023 to keep the odds in my favour 😅
hi. I’ve had a few of these. I’m a real chicken but I found these procedures to be absolutely fine. I was given a sedative on each occasion and a spray to numb my throat. You will be ok, don’t worry.
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Transesophageal Echocardiogram
echocardiogram this morning 
Echocardiogram results
Echocardiogram tomorrow
