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Ablation for chronic PVCs. Worth the risk?
I've been dealing with the darn PVCs on a daily basis for 8 months now. It seems like they are becoming more frequent. I'm taking potassium and angstrom mg for 2-3 weeks with no improvement. Every time I have an active or stressful day I am punished at night with a string of PVCs that can last for hours. They appear to be adrenaline related. It has made my life miserable.
My EP gave me a special script for an EKG for when I got a bad episode, so last night I went to the ER and they hooked me up. They saw PVCs coming every few seconds, and the technician said they all looked identical, so it appears that they are unifocal.
I'm not sure what to do here. I don't have PVCs ALL day, but I do get them EVERY day. Some days are manageable, other days are very frustating. I am living right now for the moments when I am PVC free. Not a good way to live your life.
So my question to all you fellow sufferers is, is the ablation worth the possible risks? And what are they?
Thanks for your responses.
My EP gave me a special script for an EKG for when I got a bad episode, so last night I went to the ER and they hooked me up. They saw PVCs coming every few seconds, and the technician said they all looked identical, so it appears that they are unifocal.
I'm not sure what to do here. I don't have PVCs ALL day, but I do get them EVERY day. Some days are manageable, other days are very frustating. I am living right now for the moments when I am PVC free. Not a good way to live your life.
So my question to all you fellow sufferers is, is the ablation worth the possible risks? And what are they?
Thanks for your responses.
Best Answer
"Have you considered giving the BBs a longer try? Many of the symptoms of taking them are "start up" symptoms, that can subside somewhat as time goes on. When I started on the toprol I had bad dreams, ringing in my ears, lethargy, low bp ad hr. All of that subsided as I continued with it, and now I tolerate it well. "
I most definitely agree. I still have to warm up significantly longer though to bring my heart rate up. It just doesn't want to get going in the beginning. Could be my age as well. I'm on 50-100mg Metoprolol per day. I'm currently on the smaller dose.
I most definitely agree. I still have to warm up significantly longer though to bring my heart rate up. It just doesn't want to get going in the beginning. Could be my age as well. I'm on 50-100mg Metoprolol per day. I'm currently on the smaller dose.
That's good to hear. Are you taking the BB for PVCs, or something else?
Do you feel it made a difference?
Do you feel it made a difference?
Hi! Have you considered giving the BBs a longer try? Many of the symptoms of taking them are "start up" symptoms, that can subside somewhat as time goes on. When I started on the toprol I had bad dreams, ringing in my ears, lethargy, low bp ad hr. All of that subsided as I continued with it, and now I tolerate it well.
I'm interested to know where it says over time pvc's weaken the heart? do you have any research for that? I would love the links if so to read and take to my dr.
I know I've found research that shows very frequent pvc's (>15% daily) may lead to cardiomyopathy and weaken the heart but so many discount this research.
I've had arrhythmia's since age 9 and from age 40+ had 50,000 pvc's found and have been told by numerous dr's if your heart is structurally normal; pvc's are nothing to worry about and won't do anything to your heart and the chance of developing CM was rare.
I know I've found research that shows very frequent pvc's (>15% daily) may lead to cardiomyopathy and weaken the heart but so many discount this research.
I've had arrhythmia's since age 9 and from age 40+ had 50,000 pvc's found and have been told by numerous dr's if your heart is structurally normal; pvc's are nothing to worry about and won't do anything to your heart and the chance of developing CM was rare.
I just had an EP study and the Ablation. It was a "difficult" one, the Dr knew that going in.
He told me typically they take about 2-3 hours. He spend 5 hours in there (7 on the table)
It did not work for me, but the proceedure wasn't that bad. You may want to ask your Dr about the risks, I was under the impression that the risk of me not having one was not in my favor (to say the least)
Good luck
He told me typically they take about 2-3 hours. He spend 5 hours in there (7 on the table)
It did not work for me, but the proceedure wasn't that bad. You may want to ask your Dr about the risks, I was under the impression that the risk of me not having one was not in my favor (to say the least)
Good luck
I would say yes to the ablation, but ONLY at a major cardiac facility that deals with this every day. IE Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, Johns Hopkins, etc...do your research about who is close to you.
I had mine done at the CC in my area last week, successfully. No PVCs at all as of 1 week later on a holter. There are multiple reasons for PVCs and at the very least over time, they CAN weaken your heart.
I would do the ablation again 10x over, but like I said, ONLY at the best of facilities. Good Luck!!
I had mine done at the CC in my area last week, successfully. No PVCs at all as of 1 week later on a holter. There are multiple reasons for PVCs and at the very least over time, they CAN weaken your heart.
I would do the ablation again 10x over, but like I said, ONLY at the best of facilities. Good Luck!!
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I went in for a broken foot in June 2009 and my primary heard pvc's and what he thought was valve damage. He sent me to a cardiologist who did an ekg, echo, holter and stress test. Tests showed nothing was wrong structurally; just minor things that didn't add up to anything. (stress test had red flags)
The first EP I saw who was head of the largest heart hospital here said if I didn't have an ablation to try and get rid of the pvc's I could develop cardiomyopathy but he was positive the ablation would get rid of my problem.
I didn't quite believe him and went in for other opinions; the other drs said it wasn't as severe as the first EP said and tried me on Toprol - big mistake; it sent me to the ER in distress and they gave me a shot to try to counter act the med - after 11 hours my BP wouldn't go above 70/40 and my hr 40 so I told them to let me go since they didn't find anything other than pvc's. (red flag) the EKG showed I had multifocal pvc's and cardiomegaly (heart enlargement) another red flag
I went in to have a tilt table test before my ablation and when they gave me Nitro, my heart stopped they told me that was "rare" to have that happen (another big red flag). Then a few hours later I had an EP study and ablation which found that I had problems in the RV Apex and RVOT; and I went into long runs of polymorphic VT 3 separate times. (huge red flag) my heart stopped and the first time was really bad and almost didn't start. I think what happened during my EPS was Propofol messed with my heart rhythm.
When I woke up they explained what happened and told me they thought it was ARVD or HCM but most likely ARVD with my symptoms and that I needed to have a MRI and Cathierzation and an ICD implant.
somewhere dr's have missed the mark; one day my heart is normal then not normal and I have something benign then malignant; then normal again? doesn't make much sense...for me, I think I've had something wrong my entire life and it's just been missed and different meds mess with my heart; which is consistent with HCM or HOCM patients.
I wasn't scared about ablation; I had major surgery before and knew it would be a pretty quick and easy procedure. for most patients, ablation can be an answer and cure and may even help diagnose a problem. I think it's better to go through with it and find out you have something wrong and be in a place if something does happen like with me, at least you're right there where they can treat it immediately.