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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Will An Ablation Be Effective When Having Shortness Of Breath And A Fib?

My 90 year old sister has A-Fib. She is pretty active for her age. Still plays 9 holes of golf when the weather is nice. She has celiac disease and a small tumor on her lung which her doctor suggest radiation. When she gets an attack of A-Fib, she gets shortness of breath, which bothers her. She has arthritis but still walks without a cane. She still drives a car. She would like to try an ablation., but her daughters advised her against it because, they said that she has too many health problems. I am 86 and 2 years ago, I had open heart surgery (an aortic valve replacement and 2 bypasses), and I just had an ablation (I had A-Flutter), and I thought the ablation was no big deal. What do you think for my 90 year old sister for an ablation, which may help her?
posted on Wed, 13 May 2015
Twitter Fri, 23 Sep 2022 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 29 Sep 2022 Last reviewed on
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Anesthesiologist,  's  Response
Hello,

Your sister even though she is at 90, can benefit from ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation as she is symptomatic. The risk of failure of ablation therapy is very low. Ablation would help her reduce her spells of shortness of breath. You can talk about it to a cardiologist and can have ablation done at the earliest.

Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Pallavi M., Anesthesiologist
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Will An Ablation Be Effective When Having Shortness Of Breath And A Fib?

Hello, Your sister even though she is at 90, can benefit from ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation as she is symptomatic. The risk of failure of ablation therapy is very low. Ablation would help her reduce her spells of shortness of breath. You can talk about it to a cardiologist and can have ablation done at the earliest. Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Pallavi M., Anesthesiologist