Guest guest Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 That technique sounds like the Pappone method and a few others. My EP, Dr. phson, told me that Dr. Natale has used this method. Very broad strokes. This is the technique that puts the esophogus and other heart structures at greater risk, because of the area it covers. Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication which sometimes happens after the lasso & other ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme irritation? And how long do they last? __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 I am about to have it - August 2nd. Dr Wharton at MUSC (Medical Univ of ton SC) does it. He has had only one case of PV stenosis - he has done " thousands " of PV ablations (his quote). The one case of stenosis was rectified with a stent. lee reynolds lee7reynolds@...> wrote: Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication which sometimes happens after the lasso & other ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme irritation? And how long do they last? __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 I find it interesting that this surgeon would claim " thousands " of PVI procedures under his belt. Not that I have any knowledge one way or the other, but I find it interesting. My own surgeon, one of the worlds leading researches on this procedure, claimed to have done " about 800 " at the time of my procedure in Feb, and it's only really been in the past two years that the number being performed has increased dramatically. Even Natal, when I started my research last year, was not claiming " thousands " . So, to claim thousands, which would technically be multiples of 1000, so at least 2000, means that he'd have had to have performed one procedure per day, every day, for the last 5.4 years. That's alot of procedures during a period of time when even the best were only doing a couple a month on average until fairly recently. Just a thought. Stef Carroll carroll_chris2@...> wrote: I am about to have it - August 2nd. Dr Wharton at MUSC (Medical Univ of ton SC) does it. He has had only one case of PV stenosis - he has done " thousands " of PV ablations (his quote). The one case of stenosis was rectified with a stent. lee reynolds lee7reynolds@...> wrote: Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication which sometimes happens after the lasso & other ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme irritation? And how long do they last? __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 , I am very hopeful for you. From your posts it is clear that this doc is in the majors. Best wishes and please keep us posted (and thank you for all of you helpful and infomative posts). Carroll carroll_chris2@...> wrote: I am about to have it - August 2nd. Dr Wharton at MUSC (Medical Univ of ton SC) does it. He has had only one case of PV stenosis - he has done " thousands " of PV ablations (his quote). The one case of stenosis was rectified with a stent. lee reynolds lee7reynolds@...> wrote: Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication which sometimes happens after the lasso & other ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme irritation? And how long do they last? __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 I believe that " thousands " may have just been a slight exaggeration on the part of one of the members of this site. Dr. Wharton does this full time - on or two per day, 3 - 4 days per week; he has been doing this for at least 3 - 4 years. So, perhaps " more than 1000 " would be more accurate. --- Quarter Acre Orchids quarteracreorchids@...> wrote: > I find it interesting that this surgeon would claim > " thousands " of PVI procedures under his belt. Not > that I have any knowledge one way or the other, but > I find it interesting. My own surgeon, one of the > worlds leading researches on this procedure, claimed > to have done " about 800 " at the time of my procedure > in Feb, and it's only really been in the past two > years that the number being performed has increased > dramatically. Even Natal, when I started my > research last year, was not claiming " thousands " . > > So, to claim thousands, which would technically be > multiples of 1000, so at least 2000, means that he'd > have had to have performed one procedure per day, > every day, for the last 5.4 years. That's alot of > procedures during a period of time when even the > best were only doing a couple a month on average > until fairly recently. > > Just a thought. > > Stef > > > > Carroll carroll_chris2@...> wrote: > I am about to have it - August 2nd. Dr Wharton at > MUSC (Medical Univ of ton SC) does it. He > has had only one case of PV stenosis - he has done > " thousands " of PV ablations (his quote). The one > case of stenosis was rectified with a stent. > > > > lee reynolds lee7reynolds@...> wrote: > Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the > " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which > zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of > the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis > complication > which sometimes happens after the lasso & other > ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success > > rate is said to be quite high - true? And what > about > residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme > irritation? And how long do they last? > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 When I saw Dr. Natale in July 2004, he told me that he had done " over a thousand " . I later found out that he had done over 2000, at that time. He does three per day. When I saw Dr. Calkins at s Hopkins, also in July of 2004,he told me that he had done 300 ablations total, 150 of which were the Pappone procedure. I never saw Dr. Wharton, but he has been in the game for a long time. My own EP, Joe Pennington in Wilmington, DE has recently passed the magic 300 mark! The numbers are important because of the technical difficulty of the procedure. As Dr. Natale told me, it is difficult for an EP to develop the necessary skill and expertise if the EP doesn't perform the ablation every day. > > I find it interesting that this surgeon would claim " thousands " of PVI procedures under his belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 Hi Lee - I am probably going to have an ablation in January, and the last time I talked to my EP about it he did mention the WACA ablation might be a possibility. It does sound very promising. Debbie in Texas > >Reply-To: AFIBsupport >To: AFIBsupport >Subject: Newer ablation technique >Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 13:57:13 -0700 (PDT) > >Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the > " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which >zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of >the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication >which sometimes happens after the lasso & other >ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success >rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about >residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme >irritation? And how long do they last? > >__________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 lee reynolds lee7reynolds@...> wrote: Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication which sometimes happens after the lasso & other ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme irritation? And how long do they last? I had a WACA on 3/2/06. The jury is still out as to whether it cured my afib. Up until a cardioversion 3 days before my procedure, I had been in chronic afib (24/7) for about 6mos, but Cardizem (and later Amioderone and Cardizem) kept my heart rate in the 60-70BPM range.. A month before the ablation I started Amiodarone (800mg loading dose for ~a week, then 400mg until the ablation, them 200 mg maintenance. Stopped the Amioderone one month later because of skin sun sensetivity & blurred vision. The EP told me I could expect episodes of asib for several mos. post ablation. About 5 days post ablation I went back into afib and stayed there (with rate controlled) until a cardioversion on 4/3/06. On 4/9/06 I had an episode of afib, but self converted after 45 min. On 4/16 I came down with a nasty case of stomach flu and immediately went back in afib. The stomach flu was immediately followed by a nasty rhino virus that lasted about 2 weeks. I stayed in chronic afib (though an EKG on 5/1 indicated Aflutter vice Afib) until 5/6 when I self converted to NSR. However, since 5/8 I have had periods (about 40% of my waking hours) with a lot of ectopics - a " skipped " beat every 2-15 beats, average every 3-5 beats. My next appointment with the EP is 6/1. I hope to get a better understanding of where I'm at re: afib & what my best options are then. Bob in Oregon - NSR (w/PACs/PVC's) Diatezem/Cardizem 180mg/day, Lasix 40mg/day , 20MEQ/day Potassium, ecotrin aspirin 81mg/day, Warfarin 1.25mg/day ,Accupril 40mg/day, zocor 20mg/day. --------------------------------- Sneak preview the all-new Yahoo.com. It's not radically different. Just radically better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 I can only tell you what his response was to me when I asked him how many he had performed. He said " thousands; I stopped counting when I got over 1000 " . He performs ablations 3 days a week, at least two a day (more if he adds on a " touch up " . He's been performing ablations at MUSC since 2002 and was at Duke for 15 years where he was performing them there but I don't know for how long. I think anyone who has performed over a thousand is very well one of the top guys. Whartons success rate and low complication rate is certainly at least as good as Natale's. I think that sometimes we get hooked on a name.....there are about 10-12 top guys around the country and we should feel confident with any of them! Quarter Acre Orchids quarteracreorchids@...> wrote: I find it interesting that this surgeon would claim " thousands " of PVI procedures under his belt. Not that I have any knowledge one way or the other, but I find it interesting. My own surgeon, one of the worlds leading researches on this procedure, claimed to have done " about 800 " at the time of my procedure in Feb, and it's only really been in the past two years that the number being performed has increased dramatically. Even Natal, when I started my research last year, was not claiming " thousands " . So, to claim thousands, which would technically be multiples of 1000, so at least 2000, means that he'd have had to have performed one procedure per day, every day, for the last 5.4 years. That's alot of procedures during a period of time when even the best were only doing a couple a month on average until fairly recently. Just a thought. Stef Carroll carroll_chris2@...> wrote: I am about to have it - August 2nd. Dr Wharton at MUSC (Medical Univ of ton SC) does it. He has had only one case of PV stenosis - he has done " thousands " of PV ablations (his quote). The one case of stenosis was rectified with a stent. lee reynolds lee7reynolds@...> wrote: Has anyone had the newer type of ablation - the " WACA " (wide area circumferential ablation) which zaps the atria with more juice, but stays clear of the PVs - hence avoiding the PV stenosis complication which sometimes happens after the lasso & other ablations that are nearer the PVs. Also, its success rate is said to be quite high - true? And what about residual PACs, etc. due to the rather extreme irritation? And how long do they last? __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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