How serious is an ablation of the heart?

How serious is an ablation of the heart?

In general, cardiac (heart) catheter ablation is a minimally invasive procedure and risks and complications are rare. Catheter ablation may require an overnight stay in the hospital though most patients can return home the same day as the procedure.

What does ablation therapy do?

Ablation is a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. It uses small burns or freezes to cause some scarring on the inside of the heart to help break up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats. This can help the heart maintain a normal heart rhythm.

What is life expectancy after an ablation?

After a single ablation procedure, arrhythmia-free survival rates were 40%, 37%, and 29% at one, two, and five years. Most recurrences occurred within the first six months, while arrhythmias recurred in 10 of 36 patients who maintained sinus rhythm for at least one year.

What can catheter ablation treat?

Catheter ablation is used to treat certain types of arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, that cannot be controlled by medicine or if you have a high risk for ventricular fibrillation (v-fib), sudden cardiac arrest, or atrial fibrillation.

Has anyone died from heart ablation?

Hospital Volume and Early Mortality Of the 276 patients who died early following catheter ablation of A-fib, 126 died during the index admission and 150 died during the 30-day readmission after ablation.

How long does it take for heart to heal after ablation?

The ablated (or destroyed) areas of tissue inside your heart may take up to eight weeks to heal. You may still have arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) during the first few weeks after your ablation. During this time, you may need anti-arrhythmic medications or other treatment.

Why do you need an ablation?

Why it's done Cardiac ablation is a procedure that's used to correct heart rhythm problems. When your heart beats, the electrical signals that cause your heart to squeeze (contract) must follow a specific pathway through your heart. Any disruption in the signaling pathway can trigger an abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia).

What does ablation mean medically?

(a-BLAY-shun) In medicine, the removal or destruction of a body part or tissue or its function.

Does having an ablation shorten your life?

The study published in Heart Rhythm shows cardiovascular mortality dropped by 60 percent among adults who had their normal heart rhythm restored through catheter ablation.

Does ablation weaken the heart?

“Because ablations irritate and inflame the heart a little, many patients experience short runs of arrhythmia in the weeks afterward,” Dr. Arkles says. In other words, the weeks after an ablation shouldn't be used to determine whether the procedure was a success – though more often than not, it is.