joining the club

Just got diagnosed with a flutter and heading in two weeks for tee followed by ablation. Upper chambers in constant flutter of 300bpm. Heloo middle age. Has anyone had ablation for flutter and what was 1) your experience in the procedure? and 2) is it cured?

[tcliff]

constant atrial flutter at 300bpm; set to have a tee echo and ablation all on the same day to treat. anyone had ablation for flutter and did it work?

[twinbee]

My ablation in January 08 was for both a-fib and flutter. I have been in NSR ever since. I am off all meds, including coumadin as of March.

[tcliff]

so you took coumadin for 15 months after ablation? did you have a tee to check for clots before the ablation or take coumadin for a few weeks? how was the procedure? thanks for posting!

[twinbee]

Yes I did have a TEE done the in the hospital before my ablation(I also had a heart CT done). My EP kept me on coumadin until this past March just for procautionary reasons (I had a  very rapid a-fib & flutter). After the procedure I wore 21 day event monitors on 3 seperate occasions  to make sure I was having no "silent" a-fib. My ablation procedure took almost 8 hours. I was asleep 90% of the time. I had no groin pain or bleeding after. I did have alittle chest pain whenever I took a deep breath in, but that went away in a day or two. The worst part for me was the back pain I had from having to lay flat for so long. I was given some meds for this pain, and it also went away in a couple of days. I have been in NSR ever since. The only regret I have is that I should have done it sooner. My life has improved 100%. Good Luck with you journey to NSR. Wishing you well, and wishing you enough...

[twinbee]

I see that you are having the ablation for flutter only. From what I have been told, flutter ablations are much easier than a-fib ablations. There is also a higher success rate with first time flutter ablations than with first time a-fib ablations.  Where are you having your ablation done? You should do well. Good Luck!

[tcliff]

having the procedure done at beth israel in boston. thanks so much for the feedback. by the way; how was the tee? they are doing both in the same day for me...

[twinbee]

The TEE was fine. I don't remember anything.

[tcliff]

So had the ablation last week. so far so good; NSR and feeling fine. Procedure was easier than all the drs telling me the risks during prep. Had a tee which i slept righ thru, then the ablation which lasted three hours. 19 burns. Is that alot? Felt pain in heart and across chest when ablating, but asked for meds and they flowed whenever i asked. Thankfully they didnt insert a pacemaker which they thought was a 19% chance given my low HR (32) Hoping this works. thanks for the feedback all, and good luck to everyone.

[twinbee]

I glad everything went well.

[Snoodles]

It's nice isn't it to hear success stories?  I will have my ablation for flutter on April 9th.  Please keep us posted on how you came out.  It is scary, but something we must try.  I am hoping you  have a real good outcome and hope I will too!