Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
The only thing I can find is that the success rate for catheter ablations is around 70% after TWO procedures and that success is defined as going one year after the blanking period without an episode. Does that sound about right?
I'd like to know what percentage of people go 5 years or 10 years or more. How come we don't have any stats on the LONG TERM success rates of ablations? They have been around long enough now. We should have stats for this by now but I can't find anything.
Travis
I'd like to know what percentage of people go 5 years or 10 years or more. How come we don't have any stats on the LONG TERM success rates of ablations? They have been around long enough now. We should have stats for this by now but I can't find anything.
Travis
"Ten-year follow-up for AF ablation: One of the most worthy criticisms of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is its high recurrence rate, which worsens over time. The group of Dr Andrea Natale (St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX) released a study of 513 paroxysmal AF patients followed for 10 years. Using their well-validated and consistent approach to pulmonary vein isolation, 59% of patients were arrhythmia-free after a decade. Recurrent arrhythmia between years 5 and 10 occurred in only 5% of patients. Predictors of late recurrence were female sex, left atrial size, and obesity. My take: These are remarkable findings because the late recurrence rate was lower than expected and the overall success rate was quite encouraging. Most important, though, was the fact that the modifiable risk factors, obesity and left atrial size, were strong predictors of recurrence."
see http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/814641
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I recall reading in another article that the 59% is based on a single procedure; when you look at 2 procedures I think the number was something like 87%.
One of my favorite ep's that I consulted with is Roger Winkle of Silicon Valley Cardiology. He publishes statistics on 5 and 7 years. Check out http://siliconvalleycardiology.com/wp-content/uploads/AF-Ablation-by-Silicon-Valley-Cardiology.pdf
which contains this data.
opsyn
Travis
petey
Always the talk of weight and ablation failure. So much prejudice against us fatties....for those of you who are fans of Mercola, he sent out a thing yesterday saying that watching too much tv leads to diabetes and heart issues. I assume he isn't including Hallmark movies in this, cuz those make you SO happy that it should offset any ill effects of lying on the couch...
Chubby in Baltimore
I think the old guys on this site will appreciate this. I am 58 years old, and just ate my first Cornish game hen..and where did this take place? THE MESS HALL! I know Petey was in the Navy, so the food he got was a bit better than the Army, but I remember a time in the 70s Army when you just went down the chow line and said "I will take some of the brown stuff" cuz you had ZERO idea what it was. Cornish game hen. Life is good.in today's Army (well, if you aren't deployed for the 5th time to someplace where they are shooting at you).
Bill