Guest guest Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 I saw my EP today and we discussed (among other things) the risks of ablation, including atrio-esophageal fistula. He said that he is writing a paper about how to avoid this problem during the procedure (having to do with temperature settings of RF frequency along the posterior left atrial wall), but is afraid he will be scooped by others who are also writing about the same thing (and apparently he already has been!). When he first started doing RF ablations, he followed the Bordeaux method, but now uses the circumferential method and has much higher success rates (65% Bordeaux, 85% Poppone). He has had several patients who have had groin problems following the procedure, which required further treatment to be corrected. He had one patient who had a stroke, but recovered. And he had one patient who had stenosis. Unfortunately, he now has a patient who developed a potentially fatal pneumonia five days after the PVI, likely due to aspiration of fluids during anesthesia. All of these mishaps remind us of the risks, to be sure, but as time passes it is clear that the procedure is being refined. Sandy In a message dated 9/20/2004 10:43:38 AM Eastern Standard Time, james@... writes: > Indeed Fritz, thanks for the quick response to Trudy's concern - I > certainly don't want people to be confused between mortality rates > of different procedures. Catheter ablation has a very low mortality > rate. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 > Really ..which hospital If you dont mind my curiosity? Was it hard to > get on a waiting list and is it national Health youre under? > I know , lol, a zillion questions..but its hope in action! I hope you have > a really successful op! > Hugs Haze xoxo Hi Haze, Newcastle Freeman Hospital (Dr Steve Furniss)- the chap is in high demand, waiting list is about 9 months. Pretty easy to get on the list, it's been an option for a while but I've been trying to delay the decision for as long as possible. This year I've been averaging 10 hours of AF every other day so I thought I'd better take the plunge before going chronic and I'd really like to get some quality of life back! Yes, it's on the NHS - there was some paper shuffling to do with out of county finance allocation but there wasn't any problem. All the best -- D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 In message RaichelRidge@... wrote: > I saw my EP today and we discussed (among other things) the risks of > ablation, including atrio-esophageal fistula. He said that he is > writing a paper about how to avoid this problem during the procedure > (having to do with temperature settings of RF frequency along the > posterior left atrial wall), but is afraid he will be scooped by > others who are also writing about the same thing (and apparently he > already has been!). When he first started doing RF ablations, he > followed the Bordeaux method, but now uses the circumferential method > and has much higher success rates (65% Bordeaux, 85% Poppone). The guys in Bordeaux claim an overall success rate of more than 86%. (I am one of these!). Having done about 2000 ablations (two each working day!), they have, I think, the most experience in this technique world wide. > He has had several patients who have had groin problems following the > procedure, which required further treatment to be corrected. > He had one patient who had a stroke, but recovered. And he had one > patient who had stenosis. Unfortunately, he now has a patient who > developed a potentially fatal pneumonia five days after the PVI, > likely due to aspiration of fluids during anesthesia. All of these > mishaps remind us of the risks, to be sure, but as time passes it is > clear that the procedure is being refined. In Bordeaux the side effects are usually very little. In my case I had two ablations within a 10 days interval (one of my lesions healed too well, so I needed a touch up) and am symptom and drug free for over a year now. I was walking outside whithin two days, I had no bleeding, no stenosis, no pneumonia (I had no full anesthesia either, only locally in the groin, and could follow the whole procedure). Frits > > Sandy > > In a message dated 9/20/2004 10:43:38 AM Eastern Standard Time, > james@... writes: > > Indeed Fritz, thanks for the quick response to Trudy's concern - I > > certainly don't want people to be confused between mortality rates > > of different procedures. Catheter ablation has a very low mortality > > rate. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 > ....He has had several patients who have had groin problems following the procedure, which required further treatment to be corrected. What were these? I remember someone posting that some folks who went to Cleveland had what's the word for when blood collects in a big bruise there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 > > ....He has had several > patients who have had groin problems following the procedure, which > required > further treatment to be corrected. > > What were these? I remember someone posting that some folks who went > to Cleveland had what's the word for when blood collects in a big > bruise there. ******* Hematoma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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