Is 81 year old too old for ablation?

Don't think 81 is the issue. It's our status... if the meds don't work for whatever reason, life is miserable, and we're otherwise healthy and can tolerate the typical surgical burden, and we have a really competent doc on board whose done thousands of these procedures, then we can give it a shot.

But remember: these are not always successful, quite often they're not successful... even after several, and sometimes things go bad while you're on the table, or complications arise which can be serious... and in a few cases even deadly. That's why we're asked to sign the consent form.

As long as I remain in the consistent excellent physical status I'm in (per my EP and GP), functional, without issues, without compromising my general health, continue to tolerate the only med I'm on (Apixaban), able to do basically anything I want to do (exercise, work around the house, etc), I'm choosing to not roll the dice. We're all experiments of one.

All the best!

/LarryG

Am 83 yrs old and just had my 3rd ablation yesterday. Never too old if doc agrees. Each time I get better and they make improvements

@cdk43 - That's great to hear. How long did each ablation last?

@fdixon63 my first ablation was 4 yrs ago and lasted approx 4 hrs. The second by a more experienced EP snd more complicated lasted about 3 hrs. And the one last week by same EP lasted 1.5 hrs. The technology is rapidly advancing

@cdk43 - Are you saying the actual procedure lasted these periods of time--4 hrs, 3 hrs, and 1.5 hrs. That seems like a long time.

That's not a long time. It's a delicate operation inside your heart, and you want your dr taking maximum care to do it right. My straightforward ablation in March 2026
for the easiest arrhythmia (AVNRT) lasted 3 hours--and appears to have been a total success.

@fdixon63 The person must be anesthetized, then a cut made in their groin, sometimes two, a catheter carefully slid up the femoral vein, and then a needle inserted and slid up to puncture the septum, then an energy tip added that must be manipulated around each pulmonary vein ostium so that a ring of lesions is created comprising as many as 30 applications. Each application lasts between 10-18 seconds, depending on the tissue thickness locally and what the energy level applied to the tip is to be. The catheter, being a thin and flexible tube, moves with each beat of the heart, and this means the tip moves as well. The EP must manipulate that tip to the next spot, touch the area beside the previous lesion, and then step on the button at his feet to apply the energy.

So, it takes 90 minutes or more to do just this part. If there's the LAA or another wall/spot to be ablated, he/she must move on and do those places. If a Watchman is indicated, he/she must also install that device which means withdrawing the catheter possibly for another, or withdrawing the implement causing the lesions and then shoving the Watchman delivery cable. I can see the minutes ticking by while care is taken to ensure the energy is never applied to the wrong spots where unnecessary scarring will result.

@fdixon63 The person must be anesthetized, then a cut made in their groin, sometimes two, a catheter carefully slid up the femoral vein, and then a needle inserted and slid up to puncture the septum, then an energy tip added that must be manipulated around each pulmonary vein ostium so that a ring of lesions is created comprising as many as 30 applications. Each application lasts between 10-18 seconds, depending on the tissue thickness locally and what the energy level applied to the tip is to be. The catheter, being a thin and flexible tube, moves with each beat of the heart, and this means the tip moves as well. The EP must manipulate that tip to the next spot, touch the area beside the previous lesion, and then step on the button at his feet to apply the energy.

So, it takes 90 minutes or more to do just this part. If there's the LAA or another wall/spot to be ablated, he/she must move on and do those places. If a Watchman is indicated, he/she must also install that device which means withdrawing the catheter possibly for another, or withdrawing the implement causing the lesions and then shoving the Watchman delivery cable. I can see the minutes ticking by while care is taken to ensure the energy is never applied to the wrong spots where unnecessary scarring will result.