Atrial Fibrilation after PM Implant

Hi all,
I'm a new guy to the forum and a PM. I had a Medtronic Revo Surescan with dual leads implanted on 5/7/12. Everything seemed fine & pain was easily controlled with Tylenol.
Today 5/17 the bandage was removed, all good. The unit was implanted because of slow HR. They run an EKG & another type of scan unit. The test revealed I developed Atrial Fibrilation in the last couple of days. I was told the recent implant, some swelling & breathing, allergies etc is probably why it happened. I never had the symptom before. He put me on Paradaxa & Multaq & I check back in next week to see if it improves. I am curious if any of you had similar happen? Thanks

5 Comments

Afib after PM

by ElectricFrank - 2012-05-18 01:05:55

The cause is usually some sort of irritation of the conduction areas of the atrium. The cause could be due to implanting the lead in the atrial wall. It also could be another effect of whatever caused you to need the pacer.

One thing to consider is stopping the meds in a couple of months to see if the afib returns. Too often in the medical field they use meds to control a temporary condition, and then make it an unnecessary long term treatment. Most of the cardiac meds have side effects, and are best not used unless absolutely required.

frank

Afib after PM

by Rodinaz - 2012-05-18 02:05:58

Thank you Frank,

In general the doctor described it similar your response. Other than his answer did not go into detail about irritation of the conduction areas. He just mention inflammation.

He said the meds will be temporary, I took took as short term. I am very aware of side effects, especially liver damage from Multaq. I have very low grade ( near dormant) Hep C. Most meds used short term have little effect. I'll have my regular doctor run a blood test should this continue past 30 days. Again, thanks for your reply.

Afib

by bjbumblebee - 2012-05-18 09:05:44

My cardiologist diagnosed me with afib. Then I was diagnosed with 1 bad lead. When I went to the specialist to see about a lead extraction he didn;'t think it was afib, he thought my other lead was also failing. So after my triple lead extraction I asked my cardiologist if I could go off of the beta blockers to see if I really did have afib because after my leads were extracted I wasn't having anymore symptoms. It's been about a month since I have been off of the beta blockers and I have still not had any afib symptoms. So for me it was just a bad lead!

Afib

by Rodinaz - 2012-05-20 11:05:12

That's good to know. I hope my leads are good. I see the Electrophysiology Dr next week. He prescribed my current meds thinking it was irritated or inflammation. I will speak to him about lead failure. If a lead is failing or one fails in the future its good to know how that is diagnosed. I have no idea now who does the testing. Perhaps you or someone here can comment on that aspect. I really don't have any symptoms I can feel. Only one thing was unusual after a walk my pulse went a lot higher than normal but it quickly recovered. Thank you and I hope your symptoms are behind you.

Update on Afib

by Rodinaz - 2012-05-31 12:05:38

Last week my electrophysiologist ran another test. This time it was normal. Afib only occurred 1 day. It has been normal since my original visit. That was great news, those meds drug me down to a snails pace. I feel much better and alert and hope it continues. I go back in in a month, hopefully this is behind me. Thanks & Frank I think your assessment was correct.

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