Atrial Fibrillation Ablation is a procedure performed to treat Atrial Fibrillation (AF). There are some common causes of Atrial Fibrillation. Some of the most common causes of this are; high blood pressure which is also known as hypertension, another is heart valve disease; there is also one that is known as coronary artery disease. Even after surgery there are consequences, some of these are known as chronic lung disease, pulmonary embolism, heart failure, congenital heart disease and also cardiomypothy. Just as there are more common causes there are also least common causes. Some of these causes are; pericorditis, viral infection and also hypothyroidism. No underlying causes of heart diseases have however been found in at least ten percent in each cases. There are various factors that this can be attributed to. These include; excessive caffeine use, certain drugs, severe infections, metabolic imbalances or electrolyte. The tragedy is that there are no causes which were found.
With the increase in age it also increases the risk of Atrial Fibrillation. Atrial Fibrillation can be diagnosed by most of the cardiologists. After the diagnosis, it is normally recommended by the health professional that an atrial fibrillation ablation be done.
What does Atrial Fibrillation Ablation procedure entail?
The procedure entails the positioning of a thin wire or catheter near the pulmonary veins. Pulmonary vein (PV) carries oxygen rich blood from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart. The application of radio energy is done at the tip of the catheter and used to ablate or cauterize the tissues of the heart which are found in the region of the pulmonary vein. The use of electricity is to disconnect the pulmonary vein so it is no longer at the left atrium where it is normally located. When this is done, the electrical signals which are normal and come from the pulmonary vein are unable to get to the heart. This is good as this is what triggers atrial fibrillation. Patients who are suffering from atrial fibrillation that is symptomatic and who are not being helped by therapy, because of different side effects can benefit greatly benefited from this ablation procedure. One of the best candidates to qualify for an atrial fibrillation ablation is a person who has atrial fibrillation that is paroxysmal and one whose heart is normal.
When the procedure progresses, success has been found in patients who previously had no chance of being a candidate up to 1 year before. For those patients who have little or no symptoms and who are in need of no medication, the atrial fibrillation ablation would not be recommended. Studies are currently being conducted to ascertain the benefits of this ablation procedure beyond the scope of just improvement of the symptoms. As much as 80-85 percent of the patients who have undergone this procedure will see the complete elimination or a significant reduction in their episodes of atrial fibrillation. These results vary greatly.
Atrial fibrillation ablation is relatively new procedure, the results for the long term are currently unknown, in the doctors’ experience, the longest lasting therapy is more than 5 years with no reported recurrence of atrial fibrillation. The procedure is done in a laboratory of electrophysiology and is completed in 4-6 hours. Talk to your doctor today about risks and benefits of atrial fibrillation ablation procedure.