cardiac cathetar ablation and pacemaker

[disfan07]

I am 20 years old and about 2 years ago i was diagnosed with sinus tachycardia. We had been treating it with meds but it is getting worse.

I recently moved to california so i got a new cardiologist. Based on my history and my past test results hes pretty convinced that i have inappropriate sinnus tachycardia. I have to have another stress test done and another holter monitor done to be sure.

Becasue my asthma is so severe they are limited on the meds i can take so i cannnot take a bet-blocker so we are out of options for meds.

My cardiologist is sending me to an electrophysiologist to dicuss teh possibility of have cathetar ablation. Has anyone here had this done before? What should i expect from this procedure?

Also, the 2 types of ablation that were mentioned were sinus node modification and complete sinus node ablation. If they ended up doing complete sinus node ablation than i would need a permanant pacemaker. What could i expect if i need a pacemaker?

 

[CJN]

Disfan, I've been through the ablation procedure twice but it's been about 12 years so my memory is a little fuzzy and the procedure may have changed by now. The first time I was sedated so it seemed relatively easy. They went up through my groin, cauterized one spot and the hardest part was only that I had to lay quietly on my back for several hours afterward. BUT... I was discharged the next day and knew before even leaving the hospital that the ablation hadn't made a diference. So a month later I was back for a much longer, much less *fun* version (they had me awake through a loooong six hour ordeal and had lots of trouble finding the problem spots, finally guessing at about 5 or 6 spots to cauterize.). It didn't eliminate my rhythm problem but did get me to the point where medications could correct it.

All that said, I know of several other people who went through it without much trouble at all and it corrected their problems. They all had told me ahead of time how relatively simple it was, how it helped them, and how glad they were to have done it. So just consider me the oddball and assume you'll do well like the others.

I don't have experience with a pacemaker although I was warned one is probably in my future, so can't help you with that.