EP Study question

Good questions!0

by AgentX86 - 2018-10-11 16:57:20

But we'd have to know more about you to answer.  What sort of ablation? For Afib? AV ablation? Why do you have a pacemaker? If it's a CRT pacemaker/ICD, it should already have at least two leads.

If they're in there doing an EP study, one would hope they'd do an ablation,  at the same time, if necessary.

Just an ICD

by BOBTHOM - 2018-10-11 17:10:14

Right now I have a single lead ICD.  There is more going on the VT and VF (which is why I have the ICD) leading to them exploring possible A-fib. There was also mention of left/right - bi ventricular.  Until they do the study they won't know enough.

My first reaction was they would do it at the same time, but then, wouldn't I need the CRT in place before they destroy those electrical channels?

Robin1....

by BOBTHOM - 2018-10-11 22:24:35

I was in to see my heart failure specialist today.  He will be having conversations with the EP and they will formulate a plan.  I haven't seen my EP since the day he implanted it 2 years ago as he's continuously overbooked.  I only ever got to see the lab tech or his PA.  I just wanted to get an idea what to expect so that I can have an intelligent conversation with them rather than having them talk at or through me.

Thanks.

Still a little confusing

by AgentX86 - 2018-10-11 23:16:58

If they're considering an Afib ablation, I would imagine they'd do the EP study and if it shows what they suspect, and it's treatable, that they'd do the ablation right then and there.  The catheters are in place, so it would seem silly to pull everything out and start over a few weeks down the road.

OTOH, if they're considering an AV ablation, who knows?  They may want to discuss the possibilites with you before proceeding (PM dependency isn't to be taken lightly).  They can do the AV node ablation at the same time as they add the PM (or lead as the case may be).  Mine was done all at once, with two teams of surgeons.  One running the catheters and the other doing the PM stuff. It was kinda busy around the table that day.  ;-)

It sounds like they don't know if it's really AF so that may enter into it, as well.  If they're going to do an AV ablation (for permanent AF), your atrial lead will be useless, so they'll have to add ventricle lead(s). I'd argue for the two V-leads. My LVEF is just fine but my EP decided he wanted to keep it that way so went with two leads (CRT-P).

There still isn't a lot to go on here and perhaps that's the problem.  They don't know either, so they're doing the EP study to find out.  Interesting case.  Let us know how it all comes together.

Ep study/ ablation

by heidib3312 - 2018-10-27 11:40:54

I have had four ep studies and three ablations, my first ep study they were in there for four hours mapping but didn’t ablate cause my sinus node and phrenic nerve were to close to each other. The last three ep studies they did a late. So it just depends on what they see when they go in for the ep study.