Helping You Get Healthy

AF ABLATION

• Atrial fibrillation is an electrical storm in the entrance chambers of the heart.  The abnormal beating is associated with palpitations, shortness of breath and strokes.  A proportion of patients can be cured but the chance of long term cure depends on what else is wrong with your heart and how long you have had AF.

• Whether to have an attempt at cure or to take drugs to try and control the AF requires careful consideration and discussion with your doctor.

• Radio frequency ablation can cure up to 90% of patients with atrial fibrillation in those whose arrhythmia is paroxysmal.  The procedure usually involves a pre-op work up with a CT scan and echocardiogram, and then a procedure in hospital under a general anaesthetic.  The CT scan must be done at an approved site since the images need to be exported in a specific format for the mapping machines used during the ablation procedure. Usually patients are admitted the evening prior to the procedure and discharged the day after the procedure.  It takes several hours to perform.  Often patients need a second procedure a few months later to be cured. 

• Most patients feel a bit washed out for a day or two after the procedure and may have a sore throat from the anaesthetic for a day or two too.

• You are best to have the procedure either on Warfarin or Dabigatran/Pradaxa.  Other blood thinners that have no reversal agent either need to be stopped 3 days prior to the procedure or changed to Warfarin or Pradaxa.

• All procedures have risks and benefits.  Terrible problems such as stroke, death, cardiac perforation occur in about 0.5-1% of patients.  You should discuss these risks with your doctor and obtain a second opinion prior to having any procedure.