Successful PVC ablation

It is now 4 weeks since I had an ablation of  highly symptomatic PVCs. I can report that so far so good, with my PVCs reducing from over 16,000 a day to 5 (single digit).

I no longer am on edge feeling my pulse all the time, my tightness in the chest has disappeared and I do not need to take sleeping pills (the PVCs woke me as recorded on a 24 hour holter monitor) any more. I am currently in the process of weaning myself off atenolol and effexor, both of which were prescribed to help me deal with the PVCs.

At this stage I would say it has been an outstanding success. Most importantly, my quality of life is back.

Like most readers with benign PVCs the source of my PVCs was the Right Ventricular Outflow Tract (RVOT), Ectopic beats originating from this area are more amenable to ablation. Fortunately, I was one of the first patients to use some new beaut 3D cardiac imaging mapping technique  which makes it more easy for the cardiologist to identify the source of the problem, and as a consequence minimising the risk.

For all those people who suffer from frequent PVCs (more than 4,000 a day) which studies are showing can lead to left ventricular dysfunction, my advice is to have an ablation. The bottom line is that I wish I had it done 30 years ago.

A true believer

[chuparosa]

Can you please tell us a little bit more about the new 3d mapping technique. What is it?

[Jerry_NJ]

Congratulations, and from what I  have read you may see further improvement to zero PVCs.  

30 years, you mean the PVCs started at the tender age of 20?  Ouch, you deserve a break, you've earned it.

Your positive post will help others as they contemplate going for an ablation for PVCs.  

[itdood]

Good to hear!!! Thanks for posting encouraging news.  It's very important to others.  :-)

[chuparosa]

Can you please tell us a little bit more about the new 3d mapping technique. What is it?

[rmontgom21740]

Hello,  I was just wondering where you had the procedure?

[Darlingorla]

Congratulations - you deserve it.  I had a successful ablation at Toronto General, Peter Munk Cardiac Center nearly 4 weeks ago, for AVNRT.  I too had to live with a heart arrythmia for most of my adult life - but at last I am free!

TGH has a high tech lab for 3D mapping - I think it is called CARTO - however they do deal with very difficult heart arrhythmia and are world renowned for their expertise ...

[jonesy70]

All the way over here in brisbane Australia- St Andrews Hospital.  

[jonesy70]

Link is attached- Carto

http://www.biosensewebster.com/products/navigation/cartoxp.aspx

[Groovyduo]

Congrats on the success.

Did your PVCs stop immediately or taper off? My husband's read where some patients experience PVCs up to five or six weeks after having an ablation.

I'm almost two weeks out from having had an ablation. The first day was wonderful, having only had two singles. A day or two have been good since, but they've increased.
I'm regular for a couple of hours, then the PVCs kick in for a couple of hours. This repeats throughout the day. A fun experience since I'm very symptomatic: light headed and queasy when irregular; massive headaches when the rhythm shifts to normal. Then there's the fatigue afterward.

My cardiologist said it's normal to have some after the procedure, due to the heart being irritated, but that an ablation doesn't work for 10% of patients. I'm trying to find out if I'm on the road to recovery or in the bottom 10%.

[Groovyduo]

P.S. I see where yours went from over 16,000 a day to 5 (single digit). What I mean by my first question is did the frequency slowly taper off or drop considerably after the ablation?

[cindy707]

Hi Jonesy could you look at todays post that Mike 8186 posted and weigh in with him..he's having an ablation tomorrow and needs some support...great post by the way......

[Lauren999]

Wow this is really really good to hear! I just posted another question basically asking if anyone had any success with RVOT ablation.
Can i please ask you some more questions?

I have had very Frequent RVOT PVC's for about 5 years and have already had one failed ablation for it. I don't  know how many PVC's i used to get but most of the time i was in bigeminy, or if not i would have episodes that would last 3 or 4 days where i would go no more than about 5 seconds without feeling palpitations from couplets or whatever.

What does it mean when an ECG says "Frequent premature ventricular PVC's with Bradycardia"???? one cardiologist told me it was because the ECG machine doesn't count the ectopic beats as a normal heart beat, therefore if you have more PVC's during an ECG than normal heart beats, the ECG will think you are bradycardic...........and supposedly haemodynamically you are........this is why you get dizzy etc. anyone else confirm this theory?

How long were you off your medication when you had the ablation? I am on Flecainide which abolishes my PVC's. The docs only say 5 days, but is this really enough?

I also have Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia (and autonomic dysfunction) and during my last EP study to try ablate RVOT, as soon as the doc got the sheaths in, my heart took off to about 170bpm and totally overrided the PVCs which only occur at slow heart rates. After a long time of pacing and using Isoprenaline, the doc could still not trigger any PVC's so the procedure was aborted...........was so gutted........back to the Flecainide.

2 years later and my electrophysiologist wants to try an ablation again, as i am only 24 and he wants to get me off Flecainide. What can i do to prevent my IST from stopping he doc from seeing any PVCs? Maybe i should keep taking beta blockers to keep my HR slow, as BB's do nothing to help my pvcs. Any suggestions?

This fancy 3d mapping wouldnt help with this would it? you still need adequate amounts of arrhythmia during the procedure to make a success right?

Please reply!!!! Thanks.

[Groovyduo]

Hi Lauren,

After a combination of Flecainide and Metoprolol didn't work to control the PVCs, the cardiologist kept me on Metoprolol to keep the heart rate from running in the 160s. I stopped taking it on Sunday evening. The EP Study and ablation were on Wednesday. Of course everyone's different, but what little the Metoprolol did stopped working by Monday morning. From that morning on, the PVCs were way out of control.

[cindy707]

Yaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!

[jonesy70]

Frequent PVCs with Bradycardia

I would have thought this simply means you are experiencing PVCs and you have a slow heart rate.  In some people, PVCs are much more prevelant at a slower heart rate- ie. when you lie down etc.  I understand that the PVCs are counted as a heart beat.
Are you actually on beta blockers or other drug that is slowing your heart down. I have heard that beta blockers can actually cause PVCs- not a frequent occurence, but can happen.

Medication

To be honest, I took a quarter of Atenolol on the day of the procedure and I am glad I did. The Atenolol had stopped working for my PVCs along time ago. The bottom line is that it is an extremeley difficult drug to come off. I had previously tried coming off the drug, but ended up in emergency on all three occasions with PAT- a fast heart rate as the body responds to a reduction in the drug through increasing its release of adrenaline.

Logically, it makes sense to me that if you are experiencing PVCs more commonly while your heart rate is slow, then in order to maximise the chances of identifying the ectopic focus then they should try and make sure you heart rate is slow when you are having EP testing and an ablation - hence maintaining your beta-blockers.  We are not doctors of course, but is worth asking the question.

Mapping

Yes. This will only be of benefit if you are experiencing the palpitation.

Best of luck

[Mom2four85]

That is wonderful and congratulations on a successful surgery.  

Thanks for the links for the 3d mapping, which I'm very curious about because I have to have another ablation and going to research some to see what I can find.  If my new insurance covers it, I don't care where I have to travel this time, I want my life to get back to where I was a year ago before my first ablation, I'd like to do something with new technology.

For me, my ablation was a success - even with 50,000 pvc's daily, my ep did a wonderful job and I was pvc free for the 3 or 4 days I was in the hospital. I couldn't believe how different I felt for those 3 or 4 days, but on the flip side I started having PAC's :P but they were nothing like the pvc's

Within a week or 2, my pvc's started returning and I was told to wait it out for a couple of months to see if the swelling & irritation went away, it went down some but comes & goes and my pvc's remain.  I tried a couple of different medications and by 4 months I was told I would need another ablation.  I'm not near the massive amount of pvc's I had last year, so I'm glad, I've dealt with much worse.  I only took meds for the first 3 or 4 month because I had side effects that I didn't like and tried everything my dr told me to do.

Everyone is different and it's great reading successful stories (instead of horror stories like mine) I'm just ready for another try and going to look into other doctors/facilities to try and get my arrythmia problems fixed for good.

[donna4140]

Does anybody know of any hospitals in nys that have the 3Dmapping . I have atrial tach and afib.I have been to see 1 doctor that does cryoablation,but didnt like him. So I was referred to another card.that does cryoablation.Not to sure about it though.

[Kube8]

I AM SOOOO JEALOUS!  Congratulations and I hope you are free from this PVC horror for the rest of your life!

[cindy707]

Donna try calling Dr. Natales office in the Texas area or Dr. Scheinmann in the Northern California area for a referral to a good doc in the area that you are having the procedure done..they  were the pioneers of the procedure and i have heard that they are great on giving referrals out to community members...good luck....

[donna4140]

Hi cindy. Do you have a number I can call?I Just spoke with a doctor last week, but he has only done 1-2 cryoablations a year.He mainly does rf ablations.He is in hawthorne,ny.Dr cohen.Thanks for any info!!!