Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...
"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."
Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."
Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI
“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.
Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017
“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD
FAQs Coping with A-Fib: A-Flutter
“They want to do an A-Flutter-only ablation on me. Will that help me? I definitely have A-Flutter and possibly A-Fib as well.”
Probably not. We now know that, in general, A-Flutter originates in the right Atrium, and Atrial Fibrillation originates in the Left Atrium.
Even though a right atrium Flutter ablation is relatively simple and easier to do compared to an A-Fib ablation in the left atrium, a right atrium Flutter ablation does little for A-Fib. If you have both A-Fib and A-Flutter, but have a Flutter-only ablation of the right atrium, it’s estimated the success rate for curing A-Fib is only between 5% and 10%.
You’re probably wasting your time and undergoing needless risk to do an A-Flutter-only ablation when you also have A-Fib. Some A-Flutter may originate in the left atrium, or the A-Flutter may mask A-Fib which may appear later after a successful A-Flutter ablation. As many as half of all patients ablated for A-Flutter may later develop A-Fib.
If someone wants to schedule you for a right atrium Flutter-only ablation and you also have or suspect you have A-Fib as well, you definitely need a second opinion. As long as you’ve gone to the trouble of scheduling a hospital procedure for A-Flutter and the EP will be inside your heart already, most EPs will want to do a left atrium A-Fib ablation at the same time as your Flutter ablation.
Back to FAQs: Coping with Your A-Fib
Last updated: Monday, June 18, 2018
