Atrial Fibrillation strikes again

tonycog wrote:Tikosyn was, by far, the most effective drug in my battle with AFib. They tried Metoprolol, Fleccainide and Sotolo, all without success. While on Tikosyn, I had only one episode of AFib, which lasted for about 36 hours, and self-coverted. I ended up having an ablation on September 1, 2010. I have not had a single blip (as far as I know) since then. The key for a successful ablation seems to be finding a competent and highly-experienced doctor. (The sub-specialty within cardiology is called Electrophysiology and the docs are called EP's.)

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Can you let me know how you went about researching and finding a good ablation Doc?

Thanks.

-Chuck-

Could somebody explain me what' the difference between this two procedures
- The ablation of the sinus node
- The left atrium catheter ablation

Somebody told me that part of the heart is the responsible for the control of the beat of the heart, is it accurate?

Thanks

You might want to check out skippinghearts.com

Thanks Slinky, very interesting information.

Chuck Connors wrote:Can you let me know how you went about researching and finding a good ablation Doc?

For me, my search began here:

http://www.afibbers.net

I don't remember exactly where but if you search there and post questions, you will begin to find some names.

Tony

Rosacer, the sinus node is what your body uses to time the contractions of the heart. If you ablate the sinus node, you will be fitted with a pacemaker.

The left atrium can have "nervous hot spots" that can interfere with normal sinus rhythm. This sporadically send signals for the heart to contract. You end up with a flutter rather than a productive contraction. Ablation destroys those "hot spots" that are frequently in the left atrium.

My brother apparently had the 'hot spot' ablation, as he does not have a pacemaker;
and consequently does not have to retire as a welder. (until he's ready)
I believe his doc is in Salt Lake City.

Thanks HoseCrusher.

I imagine there is a way to determine if you have those hot spots in the atrium, because if I understand well it's better to eliminate those than to destroy the sinus node and fit you a pacemaker which I imagine makes the heart beat at a constant pace and we know we need to be able to have variable pace depending on effort. So, all comes to find a GOOD Dr. isn't it?

All this is very interesting to me because I have a friend which is not computer's friendly which is facing a removal of the sinus node as last resort if CPAP doesn't help. He has his 2nd pacemaker and started CPAP something like 4 weeks ago. He was doing bad, the CPAP has helped him for sure. His pacemaker was accelerated a week before starting CPAP.

Here is a video that will help you out a little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq0_5RL7cUk

The electrophysiologist tries to map out all the "rogue nodes" and they are ablated. Sometimes they come back and another round is needed. The Maze procedure involves open heart surgery, but is very effective.

There are many variables involved with ablation, but in general is seems to be worth trying.