What does it mean to have a "stunned" atrium? Shannon?

Had my TEE today, and it basically went smoothly. EKG and Echo from my cardiologist were all normal. Ejection fraction normal. Blood flow good. But my left atrium is "stunned", as Dr. Barrett put it. At least, that's what the drs. that perfomred the TEE told him. He's going to review the test and call me in a few days after he's had time to go over it. He said the Lariat would not do anything for me in this case, as that area seems to be OK. I"m still not quite sure what it all means or what he's saying, but I do need to still stay on the blood thinner for now. Was kind of expecting that. Was thinking that my LAA might be causing an issue and maybe the Lariat might be a consideration down the road, but now it seems that's not the issue.

Any idea what this is all about, Shannon? I don't have the report yet as Dr. Barrett didn't have it yet and hasn't had a chance to review it. The word "stunned" threw me....

Barb

Barb,

You may want to read this: <[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

George

Thanks George. It's now a little over 6 months since my ablation, so I would think the "temporary" part of this should have resolved itself by now. According to the TEE results, there were no clots in there, and the blood flow is good. So I'm not sure what the consequence of a "stunned atrium' is, and if it might get better with a little more time...lots of questions on this!

~ Barb

Hi barb, different docs use different terms in different ways, especially if the Cardio who did the TEE isn't especially familiar with ablation evaluation. Just get a copy of your TEE and send it to Dr Natale. We can talk over the phone and will tell you how.

No worries though I imagine a lot of what they are referring too is a result of the significant amount of preexisting fibrosis Dr Natale found during your ablation that lowers voltage considerably inherently'. The good news is your LAA is apparently fully functional but let's see what the report actually says in the meantime and take it from
There.

Nothing to worry about anyway, either it's mostly from what was already there or possibly some residual stunning from thee ablation though much of that would typically beostly resolved by now, but it may take a but longer to normalize in the presence of a lot of scar or fibrosis.

Either way, enjoy your daily life in NSR and you am seem quite functional from your reports, so don't over read into buzz words used . Wait until you hear from Dr Natale directly before you know just what the verdict is, but that's great that your LAA is pumping away apparently!

Sleep well,
Shannon

Thanks Shannon. I know Dr. Barrett is going to read the report probably tomorrow...not sure if he sends it or discusses it with Dr. Natale or will I need to do that?

If the LAA is pumping well, then I'm thinking there might still be a chance to get off of Xarelto...but will have to wait to see what the final report really says.

Keeping my fingers crossed. Glad also that they didn't see even 1 blip of Afib on the heart monitor readings, so that's the best thing of all!

Will definitely sleep well tonight...long and tiring day.

Good night ~ Barb