AV Node Ablation

Hello my fellow Pacers.
On the 16th @ 7am i will be having my AV Node Ablated, and becoming 100% Paced. So As some might be aware, I had my Medtronic Pacer fitted on the 26th of june. EP doc wanted to wait 3weeks before she ablated the AV node. So My questions Are what to expect. I mean when I wake up am i going to feel the pacer working? How long will the procedure be? EP doc stated from min of 4hrs, How was it for you? Any Post Op hints? I must say I'm a little scared, I mean it's actually hitting me that I am going to be dependent on my pacemaker. I had 4 prior SA Node modifications. I guess I just need some re-assurance from you guys.Write back when anyone can.
Charly

4 Comments

av node ablation

by aldeer - 2008-07-14 10:07:12

Hi Charly.... I had my pm and ablation followed. They were both done in a little over an hour by my EP. To me it was a very easy procedure tho my lead from the pacemaker is just under the skin and sometimes will get irritated. Mine was done because I was in Afib most of the time, so I very rarely ever feel the afib anymore.
Actually, I am so pleased with the results, and if it is necessary, go for it. I am 97% paced and 3rd degree heart block. Lots of luck aldeer

Ablation

by ElectricFrank - 2008-07-14 10:07:29

Charly,
You didn't say why you are having the AV node ablation, other than that is what the doc wants to do.

My real concern with an ablation isn't becoming 100% dependent. It is that ablations are serious procedures that deliberately and irreversibly destroy heart tissue. They have the potential of making matters worse rather than better.
One thing to consider is that if you need the AV node ablation because of some risk of arrhythmia then why is it OK to wait 3 weeks.

There was an interesting article in the last AARP magazine about unnecessary medical procedures that stated that there are 30,000 deaths/year among Medicare recipients attributed to over treatment.

You have good reason to be a little scared.

just a thought,

frank

MY AV NODE ABLATION

by pete - 2008-07-15 03:07:32

Electric Frank who I have great respect for has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. I do agree that it is often the case that proceedures are carried out unecessarily. However I had AF, the affects of which nearly caused my heart to fail. I was not expected to live and my relatives were told to say goodbye to me by the doctors over several days. One relative flew from New Zealand to say goodbye. I miraculously regained cosciousness and got a pacemaker about 3 weeks later. Approximately six weeks later I had an AV node ablation. It was painless took about 45 minutes but the actual ablation with the radio frequency catheter in position and decisions being taken when to fire the pulse took less than 10 minutes. The immediate improvement in my heart function was astonishing. I went from hardly being able to turn over in bed to being able to climb a mountain 14 weeks later. I still have of course permanent AF. You wont wake up because the proceedure is done while you are awake in most cases. You will not feel the pacemaker working. All medical proceedures carry risks, however the risks of not having the treatment if you need it are far far greater. Please think about that one. An AV node ablation is one of the easier ablations to carry out providing you have a competant EP, and therfore carries less risk than some of the much more complex ablation proceedures. I would not worry too much about being dependant on your pacemaker. They are incredibly reliable these days. My neighbour has had an AV node ablation and is on his third pacemaker. One comment though is that it is normal to wait 6 weeks and not 3 before having an AV node ablation to allow the leads to sieze/fixate in the veins. I suggest you do that and discuss it with your doctor as 3 weeks is too short a time. If you have any further questions send me a private message which you can easily do on this site. Cheers pete

Follow up

by ElectricFrank - 2008-07-18 01:07:32

I appreciate the input from those of you who have had successful ablations. I totally agree that they can be both life saving and worth while. My concern isn't that it leaves us 100% dependent. I live with that even without having had an ablation.
My concern is about the nature of the procedure. The objective is to locate the area of the heart wall or nerve bundle that is causing the arrhythmia and destroy it. The problem is that this isn't as easy and reliable as they like to make us think. There used to be a U-Tube video of an ablation being performed showing the EP trying to locate and then accurately hit a small spot on a rapidly moving heart wall. Missing the spot destroys good tissue and can create a new set of problems. The other issue is that there is no way of knowing how the damaged nerve tissue is going to respond. Most of us have heard of phantom nerve pain in a damaged or severed limb. The nerve continues to fire wildly. The same thing can happen with ablating the heart wall.

So the bottom line is that it is not a procedure to be taken lightly. If the current situation is life threatening or so disabling that it is affecting quality of life then it probably is worth it. I kind of see it like being stuck on the roof of a car carried away by a raging river. Do I stay on the roof or chose to jump and swim. One last comment. The statistic I mentioned in my earlier post about 30,000 Medicare recipients dying annually from unnecessary treatments has an addendum to it. A large number of them were convinced that by their doctor that their case was different and that they had no alternative.

It goes back to the old saying that "When you are up to your neck in alligators it is hard to remember that your objective is to drain the swamp"

best,
frank

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You name your daughter “Synchronicity”.

Member Quotes

The pacer systems are really very reliable. The main problem is the incompetent programming of them. If yours is working well for you, get on with life and enjoy it. You probably are more at risk of problems with a valve job than the pacer.