Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Estero, The Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Not the satellite clinic in Fl. Dr. Natale is their top EP. He is probably the top EP in the US on ablations and all AF matters. Many on this board have him as their EP. When they talk about cutting edge, he's the cutter. Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Another choice is the mini maze. Dr. Adam Saltman at the U. Mass. Medical Center in Worcester (pronounced Wista), Ma. He is one of the leaders in this type of AF cures. Do Google and enter Dr. Adam Saltman and click away. Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Does anyone have a recommendation for a medical center/hospital where ablation has a great reputation? I live in FL ( Nj in the summer) but would be willing to travel anywhere for the right situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 > Does anyone have a recommendation for a medical center/hospital where ablation has a > great reputation? I live in FL ( Nj in the summer) but would be willing to travel anywhere > for the right situation. > Probably the Cleveland Clinic has the best reputation these days; but the physician doing the procedure is probably more important than the facility. Dr. Natale, who works from there at Marin General Hospital in CA, is certainly one of the top EP's in the country. I'd look for an EP who does at least 400 per year with success ratios in excess of 80%. If you're paying for it out of your own pocket you might consider the Bordeaux Heart Center in France where the two top EP's are highly rated world wide and the cost will be about $20,000 including expenses. Probably anyone on this Board who has had a successful ablation would recommend their EP. I know that I certainly recommend Dr. Natale who did mine over 3 months ago. Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 >There are a number of places with qualified EP's. One of the most important things to find out is what each EP considers " success " . Success does not mean cured. Even by the best EP's. Before I had my ablation, my EP told me that the cure rate was about 33% and that about 15% of the time there is no improvement at all. The rest of the time there was some inprovement. Earl > Does anyone have a recommendation for a medical center/hospital where ablation has a > great reputation? I live in FL ( Nj in the summer) but would be willing to travel anywhere > for the right situation. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 also remember that " cure " or " improvement " can depend on your situation going into the procedure. The statistics generally do not take into account severity of symptoms, frequency, age, gender, length of time with afib, other illness or medical conditions... etc... at some point hopefully there will be enough of this data to make better judgement of average outcome depending on certain criteria. _____ From: AFIBsupport [mailto:AFIBsupport ] On Behalf Of Earl Kehr Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 5:09 PM To: AFIBsupport Subject: Re: Ablation recommendations >There are a number of places with qualified EP's. One of the most important things to find out is what each EP considers " success " . Success does not mean cured. Even by the best EP's. Before I had my ablation, my EP told me that the cure rate was about 33% and that about 15% of the time there is no improvement at all. The rest of the time there was some inprovement. Earl > Does anyone have a recommendation for a medical center/hospital where ablation has a > great reputation? I live in FL ( Nj in the summer) but would be willing to travel anywhere > for the right situation. > Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.com List owner: AFIBsupport-owner For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via email, send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or should be acted upon without consultation with one's physician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 > > also remember that " cure " or " improvement " can depend on your situation > going into the procedure. The statistics generally do not take into > account severity of symptoms, frequency, age, gender, length of time > with afib, other illness or medical conditions... etc... at some point > hopefully there will be enough of this data to make better judgement of > average outcome depending on certain criteria. > Once you determine when and where you need to do the pluses and minuses of either the mini maze or the PVAI compared to medication long term, potential improvements in medication and/or procedures. Remember that existing medication does not solve the afib problem. It does keep the heart from enlarging. As you age the afib problem is likely to get worse and your ability to withstand either of the above procedures may be affected by your health at the time. Good Morning America had a piece on afib yesterday and it's avialable on their URL. Bottome line is that their resident physician, Dr. Tim , has afib and is going to have the PVAI in the near future. Bottom line is the probability of success with a procedure vs. the probability of worsening life style options without it over time. Certainly mental health needs to be considered. Some aren't bothered by the symptoms. They gave me anxiety big time and I'm glad I had the PVAI. Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 He's the guy that did me on 1/17/05 and I've been AF free since 1/29/05 and counting.. I'd heard that Natale was the BEST that there was bar none.. He took care of it for me in less than 5 1/2 hours after 5 over years on all the different med's available.. Best of luck to ALL of you and if any of you wonder if I had to do it over again??.. I'd do it in a AF heart beat and I'd want him again.. But hopefully that will never be necessary.. --- celtic8586@... wrote: > Estero, > The Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Not the satellite > clinic in Fl. > Dr. Natale is their top EP. He is probably the top > EP in the US on ablations > and all AF matters. Many on this board have him as > their EP. When they talk > about cutting edge, he's the cutter. > Rich O > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > > > Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.com > List owner: AFIBsupport-owner > For help on how to use the group, including how to > drive it via email, > send a blank email to > AFIBsupport-help > > Nothing in this message should be considered as > medical advice, or should be acted upon without > consultation with one's physician. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2006 Report Share Posted February 24, 2006 Thank you. Since I am not in perm AF I want to try to solve this now.I appreciate your info. Jim > > > > also remember that " cure " or " improvement " can depend on your > situation > > going into the procedure. The statistics generally do not take > into > > account severity of symptoms, frequency, age, gender, length of > time > > with afib, other illness or medical conditions... etc... at some > point > > hopefully there will be enough of this data to make better > judgement of > > average outcome depending on certain criteria. > > > Once you determine when and where you need to do the pluses and > minuses of either the mini maze or the PVAI compared to medication > long term, potential improvements in medication and/or procedures. > > Remember that existing medication does not solve the afib problem. > It does keep the heart from enlarging. As you age the afib problem > is likely to get worse and your ability to withstand either of the > above procedures may be affected by your health at the time. > > Good Morning America had a piece on afib yesterday and it's > avialable on their URL. Bottome line is that their resident > physician, Dr. Tim , has afib and is going to have the PVAI > in the near future. > > Bottom line is the probability of success with a procedure vs. the > probability of worsening life style options without it over time. > Certainly mental health needs to be considered. Some aren't > bothered by the symptoms. They gave me anxiety big time and I'm > glad I had the PVAI. > > Gordon > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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