Pericardial ablation

Friend just had a pericardial ablation. He said something about the procedure required deflating a lung. Also said he will have a second ablation in about a month. Still not in NSR and ecv attempts did not work. Sounds serious. Can anyone simplify?

I think what your friend meant was epicardial ablation. Easy mistake to make since the ablation involves entering the pericardial space, so I'm sure the doctors used both words in the same conversation.

This is how it works.

Did your friend have afib or something else? Epicardial ablations are usually used for arrhythmias they believe are originating on the outside walls of the heart, not the inside as with most arrhythmias.

Said he has/had aFib. Not sure he has a good handle on things. He did say something about the outside of the heart. Also said this was the more difficult of the two ablations he is having. As I mentioned he is still not in NSR and his bpm seem all over the place. He mentioned he’s on some meds but again not quite sure of things. Just wanted to give him word of encouragement.

Well, I've got no idea what to say since I have no idea what's going on with him. By any chance is he undergoing a Maze procedure?

Unfortunately my friend is three states away. When we have talked on the phone he does not seem very knowledgeable about what is going on. His wife seems to do most of the answering from the background. I’ll give it a few more days and try to understand things better. Thanks for your comments.