[StayoutdaBushesWay]

Heart caths are in themselves dangerous, it is the gold standard but risky nonetheless. The doctors will do it to rule out false positives from less invasive tests or in an emergency where often times they will have an angioplasty ready to go. It's not a good idea if the person is asymptomatic as it can shear off a clot and cause an embolism.

[SuziQ]

It's not a good idea if the person is asymptomatic as it can shear off a clot and cause an embolism.

I used to have a problem with Atrial Fibrillation; it was an electrical problem, and I'd been told, when it was first diagnosed, that I might need a 'jumpstart', from time to time, or even a Cardiac Ablation.

I went to the ER on Christmas Day, 2007, with an irregular heartbeat, and difficulty in breathing, and it turned out I was in heart failure. Before they did the Cardiac ElectroConversion, the 'jumpstart', I had to have a TEE test (Trans Esophageal Echo), to make sure there were no clots in my heart that would be let loose by the Conversion. After these two procedures, I was taken in for a Heart Cath. I don't remember much about it, except I did wake up near the end, and asked the doc if there were any blockages. He said no, there wasn't even any plaque anywhere. Turns out my heart had been attacked by some sort of virus, because there was no physiological cause for the heart failure.

I continued to have A-Fib, having to have another jumpstart during that summer, so I decided to have a Cardiac Ablation. The first one was about 50% successful, so I had another, the last one being two years ago, and it seem to have solved the A-Fib, which is great! I really hated having to take blood thinners! Now I just take a low dose, daily, of a blood pressure med and an anti-arrhythmia.