Posted by Don Haynsworth on December 06, 2002 at 21:25:36:
I am now scheduled for a “touch up” catheter ablation on 12/17/02 with Dr. Thomas Ahern, an EP with my cardiology group, San Diego Cardiovascular Associates. He told me he has done 2000 ablations, and seems to be well qualified. My Maze with Dr. Millar in Salt Lake City has been 100% successful with no Afib since the Maze on 4/04/02. However, since the Maze, I have been distracted by some episodes of rapid heart beat (about 10 times a month). The episodes are paroxysmal, lasting about 20-30 minutes on average. My pulse rate goes to a steady approximately 90 bpm from my NSR rate of about 60-65 bpm. Taking Verelan (Verapamil) has cut way back on the frequency and duration of the rapid beat episodes, but even at 74 years of age, I’m not satisfied with drug intervention after all the years of taking medication for the old Afib. In my layman’s terms, Dr Ahern believes I have a secondary pathway in the AV node area, which allows another signal to go from the Atria to the Ventricles, and triggers the rapid beat. I told him that I was quite concerned about ablations in the AV node area (because of what I have read on this board about the extreme dangers involved in ablating around the AV node). Dr Ahern says that when he does the ablation, if it must be close to the AV node, he backs off, and terminates the procedure, as he is well aware of the dangers inherent in ablations close to the AV node. Anyway, even though the Afib is apparently gone forever, I want to cure this secondary arrhythmia problem, and live in NSR, drug free. So, I’ll keep the board posted on my ablation (to be done here at Scripps Memorial Hospital). Any thoughts or comments from the board are appreciated. Happy Holidays, Don
- Re: Touch up Ablation Tim Hawkins 21:34:47 12/06/2002 (0)