If you are not receiving any benefit from drug therapy for your heart arrhythmia or maybe you cannot tolerate the drug being prescribed you doctor may recommend atrial ablation for your atrial fibrillation. With a success rate in the mid eighty percentage Atrial fibrillation has proven an effective treatment option. But what is atrial ablation and is it worth the pain and hassle normally associated with heart procedures.

Atrial Ablation

Atrial ablation is a minimally invasive heart treatment designed to treat heart arrhythmia. Ventricular tachycardia or V-tach, Atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation are 3 of the most common arrhythmia problems treated by atrial ablation. A sheath is inserted into the groin or neck area which allows the doctor to guide a catheter through an artery to the heart. Once there the catheter is able to discover problem areas and treat that area with either cold or heat.

Since the procedure is minimally invasive there is very little pain associated with the atrial ablation. Needle pricks and possible heartburn type sensations are common descriptions used for what a patient will experience. The treatment is basically an outpatient procedure so many leave the hospital the same day. Others may stay overnight for observation, while a few may stay longer depending on their health.

As mentioned before the success rate for atrial ablation is very high but what about the risks. The overwhelming majority of patients report no complications. Around 3% of the people have bruising and bleeding, while1% or less have any major reaction. Recuperation periods are from 3 days to a few weeks with most people back to near normal activity in less than a week.

Since the treatment is almost painless and only minimally invasive the possible need for a second atrial ablation will cause very little concern. As the procedure becomes more and more common the success rate may rise so fewer second treatments will be necessary. So the good news far out weighs any bad news about this procedure.

So if your doctor suggests atrial ablation for your atrial fibrillation you know more about the procedure and can move confidently in the direction of choice.

If you are considering having an Afib ablation procedure to remedy your heart arrhythmia you may be wondering about what you should expect before, during, and after the treatment. By knowing what you will face you can be prepared for what will happen and can face the ablation procedure with a bit more confidence which in turn will should help to make the procedure more successful.

Afib ablation is a newer treatment for heart arrhythmia problems. The usual cause for heart arrhythmia is an electrical malfunction in the heart. Afib ablation corrects the electrical abnormality as best as possible with a success rate of around 85%. Also since the treatment is only minimally invasive hospital stays are reduced with many patients leaving the same day and if a second procedure is necessary there is little apprehension.

Before the Afib ablation date you will be instructed on which medicines you need to reduce or stop taking entirely. You will know to not eat or drink anything after midnight the day before the procedure. Your doctor may have more instructions for you depending on your health situations.

The Afib ablation is meant to be an outpatient procedure but for a certain percentage there will be at least an over night stay. Once again your health situation will be the determining factor for the length of your stay. Even though you will not be heavily sedated during the procedure you will be required to have someone available to drive you home.

Once you are wheeled into the treatment area you will be given sedation to make you drowsy. A thin tube called a sheath will be inserted into the groin area or possibly your neck. The sheath will allow a catheter to be inserted into an artery that leads to the heart and the doctor will guide the catheter painlessly to the heart with the use of Xray.

Once the problem areas are determined the Afib ablation will be performed. In lay mans terms there will be either heat or cold applied to the heart to produce scarring which will block the abnormal electrical signals to to the area of the heart where the heartbeat originates.

The patient may experience a burning or slight heartburn sensation as the Afib ablation is performed but it is generally very mild. The catheter as it is guided to the heart is painless and the sensation of having an IV put in your arm is what the insertion of the sheath can be compared with.

After the procedure you will be rolled into a recuperating room and will stay there until released by the doctor. At the time of release you will be given instructions about which medications to take and what activities you will need to limit. Most patients can be back to near normal activities in 3 or 4 days. Your health situation will determine your length of recuperation.

Most people do not have any complications caused by the procedure. Those who do may experience infection at the entry point of the sheath as well as bleeding and bruising. One percent or less experience more major complications such as heart attack or stroke.

Armed with this information you can face the procedure confidently. Just knowing the short recuperation period and almost non existent pain makes the Afib ablation procedure easy to face.

Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Atrial Fibrillation ablation is the latest treatment for atrial fibrillation. New technology and information come together to create a procedure that has less risks, less discomfort, less hospital stay and is safer than most other treatments for Afib. If you are considering Afib ablation what concerns should you have? Are you a good candidate? Most importantly what are the risks?

As you may know most atrial fibrillations start off with one episode and tends to graduate from that episode to many more that become increasingly more dangerous. One attack causes changes and damage to the heart that is a catalyst for more episodes that cause more change and damage. Drug therapy is used as a first line of defense but some times it is not effective or the patient is intolerant of the prescribed drugs.

Once it is determined that drug therapy is not effective your doctor will consider more aggressive approaches to control your heart rate. Atrial fibrillation ablation is one procedure that should be considered first. Your doctor will know your health history and will be able to decide the best course of action.

Afib Ablation

Your concern about Afib ablation is natural due to the not having much information about the procedure. Knowledge of the treatment takes the fear of the unknown away. Atrial fibrillation ablation is a safe procedure that has been proven over the last few years. It is no more dangerous than having your wisdom teeth pulled and for most it is much less painful.

As far as being a candidate for the ablation treatment your doctor will be the final authority. For the most part, all patients with symptomatic AF not responding to medical therapy or intolerant to medical therapy due to side effects are potential candidates. Your health will play a role but usually that has more to do with recovery time.

What are the risks of atrial fibrillation ablation? Due to the limited invasiveness of the procedure and the fact that it can many times be preformed as an outpatient procedure the risks are small. Infection of the area where the catheter is inserted may be a concern but overall the risks are tremendously reduced especially as compared to any open chest heart procedure.

As mentioned the afib ablation procedure is a minimally invasive procedure that may be done with outpatient protocol. Those who do remain at the hospital are usually released the day after the ablation treatment. According to many the pain is described less as pain and more a s discomfort both during and afterwards.

Atrial fibrillation ablation is a safe procedure that has a good chance of controlling your atrial fibrillations and thereby allowing you to enjoy life more.

The good news is that many diseases of the heart can be treated with heart ablation. Atrial fibrillation also known as Afib or AF is the number one condition concerning irregular heart beat. This condition can many times be helped significantly by heart ablation therapy. It does so by stopping the irregular impulses of the heart before they can cause a problem. This type of therapy is used when the drug therapy is not responding well or when the patient is unable to tolerate the drugs.

AV nodal reentrant tachycardia or AVNRT can also be treated with heart ablation therapy. This irregular fast heartbeat condition can be help by ablating and thus eliminating excess impulse pathways to the AV node. Once again drug therapy is a precursor treatment to  heart ablation and used when the drugs are ineffective.

Ventricular tachycardia or V-tach is also a candidate for heart ablation therapy. Ventricular tachycardia is much more serious than the first two as it involves the lower chambers of the heart and the inability to pump sufficient amounts of blood through the body.

Heart ablation will often times be used for accessory pathway problems as well. The therapy has proven to not only be effective but also to cut down on recuperation time and collateral side effects such as pneumonia due to extended hospital stays. Many times the heart ablation is done as an outpatient procedure. The most notable benefit is the lack of pain associated with the therapy. Many people feel guilty that they only had minor discomfort during and after the procedure.

If you have one of the above heart conditions you might consult with your doctor about whether the therapy will benefit you. The first time success rate is high and since there is little or no pain associated with it a second therapy will not have you stressing over your decision to give it another try. Heart ablation therapy may be the answer to your situation.

The heart catheterization procedure or cardiac catheterization procedure, is a medical procedure preformed by your doctor to aid in the diagnosis or treatment of various heart diseases. Although the name sounds a bit intimidating, you as the patient have little to fear or worry about. The procedure is preformed hundreds of times a day all over the United States and the technique gets improved upon almost on a daily basis.

During heart/cardiac catheterization the doctor will insert a needle into one of several different veins with the femoral vein being one used quite often but the arm or neck are possibilities depending on factors the doctor will discuss with you. As you may know there is very little pain associated with the insertion of the needle. Compare it to having a your blood drawn.

Once the needle is inserted a “wire”, called a catheter, is is threaded into the vein and guided to the heart. Upon arriving there a dye may be injected into the heart area which will “illuminate” the arteries and veins around the heart. The dye allows the doctor to check the area via Xray for possible problems such as clogged or flattened arteries or veins which do not allow the blood to flow properly in that area. This procedure is called a Coronary Angiography which in plan language means a study of the heart veins and arteries.

Ultrasound can also be used during heart catheterization to reveal blockages in the heart blood vessels due to plaque build up. The ultrasound waves create a picture with the help of the dye that can reveal the blockages giving the doctor information on which area of the heart to zero in on. Any plaque build up is referred to as coronary heart disease (CHD) or coronary artery disease.

While the catheter is in the heart area it is also able to take tissue samples of the heart muscle or blood samples in the area. The catheter can also do minor surgery and or a procedure called cardiac ablation, which aids in correcting heart beat rhythm problems such as atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation.

Many of the people who have the minor surgery are able to do it as an outpatient type surgery, going home a few hours after the treatment. Most remark that pain is almost nonexistent during the procedure and report minor soreness in the area where the catheter is inserted as the main source of pain. Side effects to the heart catheterization procedure are minimal and recovery is usually quick depending on your personal health situation.

Cardiac Ablation

Cardiac Ablation Questions

Your irregular heart problems have caused your doctor to suggest cardiac ablation as a possible cure. He says it is safe and proven but you still have questions. Like what is a cardiac ablation? What can I expect if I decide to have the procedure? How long does it take to recover? How much pain is involved? You have come to the right place for answers.

Cardiac ablation also known as catheter ablation, and heart ablation is a medical procedure recommended by doctors to help alleviate heart rhythm problems such as atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardias, atrial flutter, AV Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia, and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The idea is that there are electrical pathways in the heart that are performing incorrectly and your doctor wants to go in and correct the malfunction as non-invasively as possible.

Cardiac ablation can sometimes be performed as an outpatient surgery procedure. Some people have the surgery done in the morning and go home that afternoon. Usually the longest stay is one day, however, your health is the determining factor in your doctors decision.

After some dye is injected into your body to highlight the veins leading to your heart the doctor will skillfully direct a wire through a catheter into the vein and then all the way to your heart. At the end of the wire is a pair of nodes that are used to ablate portions of the heart to stop the mutant electrical impulses from traveling the wrong pathways. Heat or cold is used to basically scar the targeted areas. You can go to this article for a more in depth explanation.

Recovery From Cardiac Ablation

Recovery time from a cardiac ablation surgery as you may surmise can be very short. Some people can be back to almost full strength in a matter of 2 to 3 days, whereas, some take a week or longer. Once again your health situation is the determining factor.

When it comes to the discussion about pain it can be summed up in two words– slight discomfort. Many who have had the cardiac ablation procedure claim little to no pain and some even feel a little guilty about the lack thereof. The level of pain is infinitely less than an open heart surgery and the methods used actually cause no pain when ablating the heart.

This article is a brief overview of the procedure. Check out other articles on this site for more in depth information. There is also a link on the top of the site which will take you to a video about cardiac ablation using radiofrequency.

Ablation

You have been to the doctor and found out ablation is the recommended treatment for your heart arrhythmias. But what really is ablation? Is it painful? Will it cure my arrhythmias? How long do I have to be in the hospital? What are the risks? How long does it take to recover from an ablation? So many questions. You will find a few answers here in this article and on other articles found on this site.

What is ablation?

According to the Merriam Webster free online dictionary ablation is the process of ablating: as a : surgical removal b : loss of a part (as ice from a glacier or the outside of a nose cone) by melting or vaporization.

Ablate is defined as to remove or destroy especially by cutting, abrading, or evaporating. That doesn’t sound real exciting does it. The heart ablation procedure is a process of running a wire through a catheter into a vein that leads to the heart. Although there is a small percentage of ablation procedures that are done during open heart surgery. You can read this article which explains the procedure in depth.

Is ablation painful?

The answer is most likely not. Many have described the heart ablation procedure, also known as catheter ablation or cardiac ablation, as being a bit uncomfortable. Some even felt a little guilty that something that caused so little pain could do so much good. If you can’t tell by this answer the definitions by Webster are a bit different then what this procedure is about.

Will it cure my arrhythmias?

Every one is a little different and react differently to different procedures. Many have found the ablation procedure to be the best thing that ever happened to them. Others have not been so lucky and have had to have the procedure done again. Discuss this with your doctor. Ask a hundred questions if you must so you can feel that this is right course of action for you.

How long do I have to be in the hospital?

Once again people have different recovery times. Heart ablation in some instances is an outpatient procedure. The process takes from 1 to 4 hours and some patients go home after a short rest period for observation. Usually one day is the most you will have to spend but it is a decision your doctor must make.

What are the risks of ablation?

Risks are minimal and include the usual problems that may occur with any medical procedure. Click on this link for more in depth information.

How long does it take to recover from an ablation?

Many patients are close to full speed within a few days. Some up to two weeks and others a bit longer. If you are in relatively good health chances are you won’t take very long. As your health situation drops so does the recovery time for most people.

You may still have more questions and your doctor is the one to ask. Don’t be bashful and don’t let the doctor just give you general answers. Get the information you need to make the right decision about heart ablation.

Heart Ablation

Radiofrequency Ablation For The Heart

Radio frequency ablation is a medical procedure that uses radiofrequency to ablate different tissues in the body. It can be used for a variety of different disease processes and is an minimally invasive way to attack some very serious problems. The use this blog is most concerned with is heart ablation of course, however, tumors are another possible target of radiofrequency ablation.

The heat caused by the high frequency alternating current is used to ablate an area of the heart which in turn scars that part of the heart. The scarring is the goal of the procedure as it will not allow bandit electrical frequencies to flow through the heart in that area. The bandit electrical impulses are the cause of arrhythmias, fibrillations and other heart malfunctions.

In the past low frequency alternating current or pulses of direct current were used in this procedure. The reason the medical community has moved to the radiofrequency method is because it does not stimulate the nerves of the heart. By not stimulating those nerves there is little to no pain and therefore allows the procedure to be done without general anaesthesia.

Radiofrequency ablation, as mentioned before, can be used tumors. Treatable tumors using this method are usually in the lungs, kidneys, bone, liver, and possibly a few other places but very rarely any place besides the ones mentioned.

In cardiology the uses are many. It is used to destroy areas that are causing cardiac arrhythmia. Many recurrent atrial flutters are one problem radiofrequency can help. It also is used for atrial fibrillation. supraventricular tachycardia, and certain types of ventricular arrhythmias.

There is an energy emitting diode at the end of a catheter which emits the frequency which in turn heats up and is then used to burn or scar areas of the heart. Obviously the doctor does not haphazardly burn just any area of the heart.

The problem areas of the heart are mapped out using dyes injected in the body and imaged using xrays or maybe MRI. The catheter with the diodes on the end is inserted into a vein, usually the femoral vein, and guided to the heart using the above methods to “see”. Once at the heart, the doctor skillfully directs it to the proper area or areas to be treated.

There are a few more uses for this type of ablation but they are not important to this discussion. If you are suffering from recurrent atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, or supraventricular tachycardia, radiofrequency ablation may be right for you.

Heart ablation surgery is a relatively safe surgery that has been performed thousands of times. It is marginally invasive and definitely a better risk than open heart surgery. The skill of the doctor and surgical crew plays a part in the overall safety of the procedure so choose that team wisely.

There are risks inherent in any surgery so this article is meant to inform of the possible situations that may occur due to the surgery. Starting with the sedative it is important for your doctor to know of any allergic reactions to any drugs that has occurred in the past. The doctor can then decide which form of sedation is best for you.

The point of insertion of the catheter tube can be a site for infection. All precautions will be taken to insure this does not happen , however, the possibility does exist. Of course bleeding is another possibility at this site as well.

The dye that is injected to allow the doctors to be able to more fully visualize the affected area on x-rays could cause liver damage in it exits from the blood system. Your doctor should be appraised of any liver problems.

As the catheter travels to the heart through the blood vessels some scraping may occur. Usually this is only a minor inconvenience, however, in some cases it can escalate to blood clots which may eventually clog the blood vessels. The increase in heart attack and stroke is a possible side of effect of these blood clots.

Once at the heart, the catheter could possibly puncture the heart. The doctors skill in this area goes without saying. Also during the procedure damage to the electrical system of the heart may lead to further arrhythmia worsening which may eventually require a pacemaker.

Another possible side effect could occur in the veins as a result of this surgery. Narrowing of the veins or pulmonary vein stenosis could effect blood flow between the heart and lungs.

Once again this is a relatively safe procedure and the risks of heart ablation surgery are minimal, however, these precaution are given to inform the patient of the possibilities. The doctor will have discussed this with the patient beforehand and will also mention that diabetes and being over the age of 75 are major risk factors.

Heart Ablation

Heart oblation is a medical procedure used to treat heart arrhythmias of different kinds. Correctly spelled heart ablation the procedure is much less invasive than open heart surgery. Results have been good and many report very little discomfort before, during, and after the surgery.

Many know the term heart oblation from religious training, especially in the Catholic religion. The term is a solemn offering or presentation to God, and the term oblate refers to a people who devote themselves or their children to a monastical devotion to God. Neither of those terms apply here.

The procedure is performed by a very skilled doctor. A catheter is inserted into the leg or neck or the patient and a very special wire inside the catheter is guided through the femoral vein (big vein in your leg) or the carotid vein (big vein in the neck) to the heart.

Before the insertion of the catheter a dye is injected to allow the doctor to “see” the pathway to the heart so he can guide the wire with special electrodes or endings into the proper are of the heart. The doctor will use Xray to aid in the surgery as well. Once at the heart, the doctor will hone in on specific areas of the heart and use the wire to oblate the area.

The method most used is radiofrequency oblation and in non technical terms, it is basically scarring the heart with heat. The scarring blocks the path of mutant electrical signals that are causing the heart problems. The oblation may occur in more than one spot and the doctor is usually aware of the areas that need attention. However, sometimes, when they get into the heart they find one of the areas may not need to be treated.

The heart ablation surgery can take as little as 30 minutes but usually more like 4 to 6 hours. It is done under local anesthesia which many times allows the patient to go home the same day after a short observation period. There are some that do stay the night all of which depends on your health, how you react to the surgery, and other factors that your doctor will study and make a decision.

Total recovery can be 2 months to 6 months in most cases. At that time you may be able to do activities you weren’t able to do before. Be sure to follow your doctors instructions to keep your rehab progressing as expected. Many times after the surgery the patient will be able to discontinue the medications they were taking for their heart problem. The heart ablation surgery has a high success rate but sometimes another procedure is necessary