A 38-year-old member asked:
how often do cardiac ablation surgeries result in complications requiring pacemakers implantation?
3 doctor answers
Dr. Michael Fenster answered
31 years experience Cardiology
Nodal ablation: In ablating cardiac dysrhythmias, the ablation catheters can sometimes affect the conduction to or from the atrio-venticular node (avn). This is an important regulator of heart rate and if affected the reslutant 'escape rhythm' may be too slow to accomadte normal activity; thus a pacemaker is required. In some conditions, like atrial fibrillation, the goal may be avn ablation and pacemaker implant.
Answered on Mar 16, 2017
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1 thank
Dr. Liviu Klein answered
23 years experience Cardiology
It depends: It depends on the ablation type: almost never for wpw, atrial fibrillation/flutter or ventricular tachycardia; 1% or less for avnrt (atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia). In avnrt, there is an extra 'lane' in the av node that conducts electrical impulses leading to tachycardia and the ablation can unintentionally damage the whole av node resulting in heart block and need for pacemaker.
Answered on Jun 22, 2017
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6 thanks
Dr. John Garner answered
16 years experience Cardiology
It depends: There are certain procedures in very specific patients where that risk is high, but generally the risk is much less than 1%.
Answered on Jul 9, 2019
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1 thank
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A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Mary Callahan answered
29 years experience Cardiology
Risks of ablation: Mostly the risks are the same as for other procedures, including infection and bleeding, but also rhythm disturbances of the heart and the development ... Read More
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3 thanks
A 38-year-old female asked:
Dr. Stuart Hickerson answered
32 years experience Family Medicine
Pacemaker: Ablation is relatively new. There is no data to support that as it does not exist.
A 36-year-old male asked:
Dr. Julie Abbott answered
45 years experience Preventive Medicine
Very possibly: My understanding is AV nodal reentrant tachycardia is the most common cause of supraventricular tachycardia. Ablation may be the preferred treatment, ... Read More
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1 thank
A 30-year-old member asked:
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