PFO Closure for an Atrial Fibrillation Patient

[denalidon]

For the Cleveland Clinic or other qualified Dr's on this site:  I am a 64 year old male that  is in generally good health, with the exceptions that follow.  I have a PFO that shunts a lot of blood from the right-to-left Atrium during Valsalva/straining as verified by several TEE/TTE procedures. It shunts some during inspiration, and very little at rest.  It has been recommended by one cardiologist and a pulmonologist that I get the PFO closed with an Amplatzer device, as they feel that the Hypoxemia that has recently been discovered (87%  SPO2 average during the night at 8100' elevation-our residence) is probably being caused by the PFO.  One other cardiologist would not guarantee that this would fix the Hypoxemia, but thought that it may be the cause.  The pulmonologist ran a number of other tests for other possible causes (including a sleep apnea test, checking lung capacities, lung CT scans for scarring, clotting and other abnormalities) all of which were negative.  I would go ahead with the closure without hesitation, if it were  not for the fact that I have also had about 4 episodes of paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (short duration) over the last 4 years.  I have converted with medication each time (currently on 225 mg of Rythmol twice daily) and seem to be under reasonable control with the medication and lifestyle changes.  
  My question is whether I'm really doing myself a disservice by getting the closure done if I follow a typical A Fib pattern and have increasingly longer and more chronic episodes, especially after seeing that some closures have triggered more  A Fib in patients?  Is it possible/advisable to try an ablation if one already has an Amplatzer device in place?  Would a Maze procedure or open heart surgery then be my only recourse if I have more severe A Fib  in the future?  I could move to a lower elevation, or stay on supplemental Oxygen for the rest of my life, but we love living where we live and our active lifestyles involve travel and trekking/hiking/camping at higher elevations.  I would really like to know how many ablations  have been done on PFO closure patients to date (successfully?).  Thanks in advance for your response!  

[Brooke_38]

If you look to the right hand side of this page...you will notice a box that says "Related Expert Forums" within that box are the links to the various heart related Patient-to-Dr Forums.

If you're still having trouble, just let me know:) Best of luck to you!

[denalidon]

Thanks Brooke.  I thought I posted this under the forum "Ask A Doctor".  I guess I don't know or can't find the "expert" forum.  Any suggestions?

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

This forum is a patient to patient community. Unfortunately, questions that are asked here will not be answered by a Dr.

If you are interested in a response from an MD, you will have to post this question in the Expert Forum. You may want to just copy and paste this question over in the "Heart Rhythm Expert" Forum.

Best of luck to you!