Heart Ablation!!!????

You have options other than ablation.

http://patients.uptodate.com/topic.asp?file=carrhyth/6082

I am not a young runner, but had a cardiac ablation this summer at age 48. It is relatively non-invasive. I was certainly able to run again within 2 weeks, even at my age. This is just a guess, but your cardiologist will probably hold them off from resuming full workload for a month.

Recovery of course depends on the condition - I had atrial fibrillation that did not respond to drug therapy. Plus the drug therapy is non-compatible with "intense" aerobic workload. For serious young runners, the ablation is far preferable to permanent drug therapy. It is safe and effective in 75%+ of cases.

I had 2 cardiac ablations; one at 17 and one at 19. Both times I was out of the hopsital the same day and I was running again by the end of the week. I had a supraventricular tachychardia which I still have(the doctors couldn't fix it either time) but they told me that since it isn't life threatening I'll be fine. I'm still running (22) and not dead yet. Go me.

I had two of the ablations and you have to mostly take time off for the wounds to heal in the leg. My first one they told me to wait 3 days after I got out, got out same day btw. The second one was a little more tricky because they require that you stay at the hospital overnight. And because they had went through the neck this time, they were worried about a clot forming so they put me on a blood thinner which thinned out my blood too much and I started bleeding excessivley and was then required to stay another day. But had that not happened I would have been aloud to go home after just the one night. And because of the bleeding this time I had to take 10 days off but it wasnt that bad because it was in the middle of my scheduled two weeks off after track.

I guess it depends on the hospital and the doctor. When I was in high school my friend also had his done and could have just taken 3 days but my coach made him take a week. Btw I was 18 when I did the first one and 20 when I did the second one.

Honestly if the heart trouble is really interferring with races/workouts getting the procedure and having to take a week or whatever off will far out weigh him/her keeping it and waiting. I wish I hadnt waited so long to get mine done because it was such a burden. Also now is a better time than any because there is always something, like summer training, track training or whatever! So stop waiting and dont worry! When my friend got his done he went from a 4:45 miler to sub 4:30 that year all because he could run and not worry about it. The sooner you get this done the better.

TeenBoySquad wrote:

I had 2 cardiac ablations; one at 17 and one at 19. Both times I was out of the hopsital the same day and I was running again by the end of the week. I had a supraventricular tachychardia which I still have(the doctors couldn't fix it either time) but they told me that since it isn't life threatening I'll be fine. I'm still running (22) and not dead yet. Go me.

Whoa,finally a life saving and informative thread ,yet barely a post.

How did this cardiac condition present,(if so)? Or was there a family history?

Thanks.

Squid wrote:

Recovery of course depends on the condition - I had atrial fibrillation that did not respond to drug therapy. Plus the drug therapy is non-compatible with "intense" aerobic workload. For serious young runners, the ablation is far preferable to permanent drug therapy. It is safe and effective in 75%+ of cases.

exactly--i'm not going to take any frickin drugs that just slow my heart rate down.

will doctors allow you to go straight to the procedure, or do they mandate a drug trial first in most cases? I'm going to see my doc again soon, but i was wondering what others have heard.

Having had 5 bouts with afib in the last 6 or so years, I'd be very interested in hearing about your outcome. My attacks are relatively infrequent(27 months between the last two bouts), but with the last one, I needed electro-cardioversion after roughly 20 hrs of no response to Rythmol.Personally, I'm hoping to kick this ball down the road for a few more years if I can, knowing that techniques are constantly improving. It is nice to hear that others have had ablations and still run at a decent level....or better. Good luck and keep us informed.

Afibber wrote:

exactly--i'm not going to take any frickin drugs that just slow my heart rate down.

will doctors allow you to go straight to the procedure, or do they mandate a drug trial first in most cases? I'm going to see my doc again soon, but i was wondering what others have heard.

I have occasional Left Atrial Fib and after a cardiologist examined my 24 hour monitoring data he told me that heart rate lowering drugs would be money down the drain for me because my resting heart rate was so low at 37. He said the only real effective treatment for me would be the surgery. He also felt that undergoing the surgery presented more risks that the A-Fib did. I am pretty much able to completely manage it by staying well hydrated, avoiding ALL caffeine, and making sure that I get plenty of Magnesium in my diet. I am not saying that my ability to manage the condition will work for anyone else, just that aerobically fit people can generally skip the heart rate lowering drugs.

I can only speak to my experience, but I did in fact have to go through the drug protocol prior to getting the ablation. Took rhythmol, flecanaide and sotalol over a period of about 6 months. The first two really had no positive impact on my episodes, with the flecanaide giving me fainting spells. Sotalol sort of worked, but my complaints about heart rate when working out were sufficient cause for my cardiologist to offer the ablation as the next option and it was accepted as a reason by my insurer. He did say there were some risks involved, there are "serious complications" in 1-2% of cases. Of course, the serious complications are stroke and death, so not trifling. In terms of success, the improvement curve is starting to flatten out at about 75-80%. Many people need 2-3 procedures to finally lick the A-fib with ablation. I have one friend who has it 3x and his a-fib is now back to the point where he needed a pacemaker. Another friend (60yo serious runner) had one 3 years ago and no problems since.

FYI, the MSRP on the procedure was $54K, though the negotiated rate between my insurer and the doctor was more like $30K. My insurance paid all but $1900. Today I am off all anti-arrythmic drugs and as of last week off the coumadin as well! I am virtually free of a-fib episodes, just a minor flutter once a month or so rather than the prolonged, heart thumping, energy sapping episodes I was enduring. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the outcome and would do it again myself in a second.

While my outcome was great, everybody has to make their own decision on this. The procedure is not especially difficult to endure, but it is not without its dangers. My cardiologist was great - but he did want to be sure I really wanted to go forward with it. I really felt like it was mostly my decision to move forward. Some people can manage their a-fib with lifestyle changes like cutting out caffeine or increase magnesium - I tried those and they did not have any impact. I have vagal a-fib which tends to be resistant to both lifestyle and drug therapy, but is often cured with an ablation or two.

Anybody who is interested in corresponding more, drop me an email.

Thanks to all .Had close calls several times.Your responses are invaluable.