Ablation for chronic PVCs

[mzak69]

I am a 42 yr old male in good health who is dealing with symptomatic PVCs on a daily basis for the past few months. I get strings of them that can last for hours, especially in the evening at bedtime. Usually they are worst after a stressful day or intense physical exercise. I had all the tests (nuclear stress, echo, holter) and dr's say I have benign PVCs.

I have tried beta-blockers (metoprolol tartrate) and it made me feel very tired and didn't make much difference with the sensation/duration of them.

My question is, are there situations where an ablation makes sense to eradicate PVCs? They are really affecting my quality of life.

Thank you for your response.

[Mikew904]

Hello, I just had an ablation due to pvcs, although because my situation is very unique it did stop the pvcs.  I think for most people it works, my "problem area"is tough to get to so they would need to go around the outside of the heart and in a speciic area (which only a couple of Dr's can do)
As I mentioned, I think it works for most, depending on if they can get to the area.

I'm also on the metoprolo, and now they put me on Flecainide to hopefully stop the PVC's
It seems to be working for the most part (it's only been a few days)

I'd rather have an ablation, than a lifetime of Flecainide or other meds.
What I understand with the ablation is that even if you do not have the PVS constantly (such as my situation) they zap around and make it react until they find the area that is causing the PVCs (I'm not a Dr)

On another note:  Nice car!

[CCF HeartMD6]

A PVC ablation is not an uncommon procedure and can be done for a variety of reasons but most often are done (but not limited to) when it causes a reduction in the ejection fraction (PVC-induced cardiomyopathy) or when it is the trigger for ventricular tachycardia. This can be a successful procedure especially when the PVC is unifocal (one type of morphylogy and coming from one particular area of the heart) rather than multifocal (coming from different areas).  A useful diagnostic test is a holter monitor the overall PVC burden -- how frequent (and how long) they are occurring.