Be careful out there. Discus with your doctor.
http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20170124/could-a-therapy-for-irregular-heartbeat-harm-the-brain#1
Catheter ablation is a common treatment for a form of irregular heartbeat known as premature ventricular contractions. Now, a small new study suggests the approach may put some patients at risk for brain injury.
The findings are preliminary, but are "relevant to a large
number of patients undergoing this procedure," study senior author Dr.
Gregory Marcus said in a news release from the University of California,
San Francisco.
The study suggests that the procedure may help encourage the formation of brain lesions.
Marcus, who directs clinical research at UCSF's department of
cardiology, said he hopes the research "will inspire many studies to
understand the meaning of and how to mitigate these lesions."
The study included 18 patients who underwent catheter ablation for premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) -- a type of abnormal heartbeat originating in a lower chamber (ventricles) of the heart.
Dr. Stavros Mountantonakis, an electrophysiologist and heart
specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, reviewed the
findings. "Premature ventricular complexes are 'extra beats' that
originate from the lower chambers of the heart," he explained.
"PVCs are very common and the vast majority are benign that warrant no therapy," he noted.
However, some patients -- often those in danger of heart failure -- are recommended to receive catheter ablation, Mountantonakis said.
As described by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute, catheter ablation is a minimally invasive procedure where a
tiny catheter "uses energy to make small scars in your heart tissue to
prevent abnormal electrical signals from moving through your heart.
"Catheter ablation is used to treat certain types of
arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, that cannot be controlled by
medicine," the agency added.
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