Local EP selling Cryo ablation

Local EP (high volume) trying to selling me on the success and safety of cryo ablation and how it's the right choice for me at this stage. I told him I'm trying to get an ablation done with Dr. Natale this summer as my afibb symptoms are getting worse.

Any truth or wisdom in wether or not his claims are supported success and safety of cryo vs RFA in this day and age?

I'm not sure if I have paroxymal anymore or persistent afibb I've been on flec for 7+ years now. Symptoms of afibb have been increasing over the last year, signs flec is failing??

I have been waiting awhile to have Natale do my ablation, its been 1 year since my insurance denied my 1st attempt last year. Insurance claimed that my afibb wasn't symptomatic a-- holes!

Any reassurance would be great that I'm doing the right thing.

Thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2020 09:42PM by Driver.

Cryo is safer in that it eliminates the danger of damage to the esophagus. It is also easier to use but is not perfect. Also the limitations of cryo are to Pulmonary Vein Isolation only. So if you have issues beyond the PVI you either will need a second ablation or they will have to pull the Cryo cath out and reinsert an RF.

Quote
Driver
Any reassurance would be great that I'm doing the right thing.

You are absolutely doing the right thing.

You want an expert ablation done by an EP who will find all your sources of afib and ablate them as needed. If you're someone who's persistent or getting close to it, you need that level of skill. Cryo is more appropriate for index ablations of simple afib cases and less-skilled EPs.

Stick with your instincts.

Last big episode I had was 3days. Normally the episodes last less then an hour of course I'm on flecinaide so who knows what would happen if I didnt have the drug in me.

My ablation in 2017 was done by cryoablation. The EP I went to said he was very experienced (they can tell you anything. Ask for numbers!) One thing that we didn’t discuss prior to ablation was the dye that was used to make sure that the cryo-catheter Balloon was adhered to the wall of the pulmonary vein. The EP admittedly had difficulty placing the catheter and because of that I think an excess of dye was used. That along with the fact that I had a large hematoma and shortness of breath after ablation , probably due to losing a lot of blood, they did several CT’s with contrast dye. After my ablation I had kidney issues. My kidney function went to 45%. There are pros and cons to each type of ablation but because of the dye necessary with cryo-ablation I would not have one again. I was very healthy prior to my ablation. I ran a 50 K 4 months prior to my ablation. I would make sure that you’re trying all the non-invasive things you can prior to ablation. Including but not limited to having a healthy weight, eating a good diet, no alcoholic beverages, magnesium supplement, taurine supplementation and decreasing stress. Those are things that helped me.

Why did you lose a lot of blood? Blood loss during an ablation should be a trivial amount, like maybe 10-20 milliliters. And why multiple CTs?

Good question Carey?? I don’t know the answer. Not all EP’s are skilled at what they do. What should have been a simple procedure wasn’t. ??