Why have both neck and femoral catheters during an ablation?

[mabebesc]

I'm just curious why some of us during an ablation have both a neck and femoral catheter?  I only had a femoral catheter? Thanks !

[mabebesc]

Isn't it interesting how all of us have different experiences? I had all 3 catheters in my right groin. I bet if we polled everyone about their ablation , some people would say only one groin was used, some would say both groins were used, and some would say the groin and neck were used.  I guess I still don't completely understand why that is.
Betty

[empressofq13]

I had both femoral and neck.  My Dr. said he was having a hard time getting through the femoral veins and so he went in through my left femoral artery and instead of going through the femoral arteries in both legs, he decided to go through the neck with the other instead.  I am glad.  I wish he could have gone through the neck twice!  It didn't cause much pain at all and healed a lot quicker tha the groin!

Cindy

[Jaqq]

I had one back in 1999 and they went through both femoral and the neck, just above the coller bone.  The Doc thought I was crazy cos I was so nervous I started laughing whilst they were inserting the tubes. He said he'd seen many things, but never someone laugh...oh well!

[wmac]

I had two attemped ablations (eps) and both times they went through both femoral and the neck.

[ireneo]

I had 4 all together, 2 in each femoral vein. The thought of one in my neck makes me cringe.

[mabebesc]

It's interesting how different the ablation can be for some people. Some have both the groin and the neck involved.  You had your right and left groin involved and I just had my right groin used.  I guess each Dr. has their own way of doing things. Maybe some Dr.s use the neck if they have difficulty getting in through the groin.

[twinbee]

My EP told me that if he found it difficult going thru the groin with one of the caths then he would go thru the neck. I guess everything was fine because he only went thru the right and left groin.

[mabebesc]

Thanks for the info- I think I know the answer to my question now. I had 3 catheters inserted into my right groin and none in my neck during my ablation. From the info above, I'm guessing one was the metal catheter used to ablate the extra pathway and the other 2 were used to find the arrhythmia.
I guess it depends on the Dr doing the procedure.  Some might  not want to put all the catheters in the groin and prefer using the neck too. I know I had a huge bruise afterwards and my groin took awhile to stop bleeding. Maybe using both sites eliminates some trauma to the groin.
Betty

[rr2465]

I found this on the UCSF Catheter Ablation web page:

During the procedure, a tiny metal-tipped wire catheter is threaded through a vein or artery in the leg up into the heart. Using an instrument called a fluoroscope, the cardiologists are able to view the catheter moving through the vessel on a monitor. Other catheters containing electrical sensors also are inserted, usually through the neck, and are used to help find the areas causing the arrhythmia. Once these problem areas are located, the metal-tipped catheter is used to deliver radiofrequency waves -- the same energy used for radio and television transmission -- to gently burn away the problem tissue.

Rob

[Momto3]

Ya know, I've wondered the exact same thing.  

I've had two ablations, one to the right side and one to the left side of my heart.  I've never had a catheter in my neck.  Lots in my groin though!