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Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: 6 hours ago | Replies (1427)Comment receiving replies
I was told that I have to be put in a fib to get an ablation. I’ve had two ablations. I went to have a fib for a week and then it stopped and then the doctor said you should be put into a fib for another ablation. Is that accurate or is that baloney?
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@carly14 It's baloney...my uneducated and untrained opinion. It 'helps' if you happen to be in AF at the time of an ablation, and yes, they can induce AF most of the time using adenosine, caffeine, isoproterenol, and other chemicals, but if you are an early patient, just diagnosed, NOT IN full-time AF, then most likely all the EP has to do is to isolate the pulmonary veins, and that does not require you to be in AF. In fact, since your atrium is not beating chaotically, his/her placement of the energy tip is more predictable and controllable. So, in a sense it's actually better if you're in NSR at the time.
For a second ablation, in my case it was that he had missed one small gap around my 'third' pulmonary vein, which he was hell-bent on re-doing... a full PVI. When he zapped that one tiny gap, my heart immediately went into happy NSR and has remained there, coming up to 3.5 years now. In your case, your disorder may have found a new path, and it WOULD indeed by handy to have that actively firing at the time he begins to map your rogue circuit(s) and zap them.
I hope you see that it's a nuanced question and response...it depends on what we're looking for, your history with AF and with corrective measures, including a previous (successful, or did it fail inside of a year?) ablation. And, to be completely reasonable and fair, his particular training might have made it clear, and predictably reliable, that it's best to have your heart in active AF at the time because it makes stopping it so cut 'n dried. One zap, and your heart resumes steady, unbroken, NSR. He would challenge your heart with isoproterenol, and your heart stays in NSR? Great, he's just found and isolated the problem circuit...which is what all of us want for you.
So, I call baloney, but....I'm not your EP, I don't know all about your history, and you aren't gonna pay me anyway. Take it for what it's worth. And I would go back and ask him for three more minutes to 'splain why. I would think it a great use of my time, and you may just end up getting the procedure you need. Right?