Hi folks,
I'm shortly due a procedure here in the UK for dealing with an increasingly unsightly and annoying varicose vein wrapped around my left thigh - more specifically 'significant left leg superficial venous reflux disease and varicose veins secondary to sapheno-femoral junction and proximal long saphenous vein incontinence'. This is a familial thing as my father had this issue also as does my half-sister.
The uppermost portion of the veins concerned is 3 or so inches down the inside of my left thigh below my groin, and this is where the superficial vein will be ablated closed with the veins below then being stripped out.
What I'm wondering about is as follows (and yes I will be asking my consultant - this is being done privately as the NHS will no longer pay for such procedures in the uk until one develops more serious disease such as phlebitis and ulceration further down the line.....) - will this procedure interfere/compromise/prevent a future AF ablation as the catheter entry point will have been compromised??
Any views and or comments would - as ever - be greatly appreciated.
Best to all,
Mike

OK folks just FYI I asked my surgeon and he said no worries on that front as in no problems ablation-groin-access-wise after my upcoming varicose vein (left thigh) procedure.

Your Femoral vein access for the ablation catheter, Lasso mapping catheter in the right femoral vein groin access ... and in some cases the ICE intracardiac-echocardiography camera, if used, will be inserted in the left femoral vein at the left groin area. Assuming you are fortunate enough to have chosen an EP who uses ICE in each of their AFIB ablations... then the access of all of these catheters and sheaths ... as your surgeon confirms ... will be well upstream from where your vericose vein ablation is taking place.

Best wishes on both your vein surgery and your future AFIB ablation.

Shannon

Thanks Shannon (-:

As and when required I'll be looking to either Sabine Ernst or Anthony Chow here in the UK. Not sure of Ernst's stats (yet) but Anthony Chow tells me....

"I have been performing AF ablations for almost 15 years averaging around 120-150 cases a year.
My 2 year success rates are around 65-70% for first ablation procedures but higher for multiple attempts.
Complication risks are <5% ( vascular groin bleeding) serious risks are very small <1% ( 1case needing surgery 3 strokes) over > 10 years
I have not had a mortality case to date."

.......so a pretty good prospect here in the uk IMO.....what do you think?