We all know that women have kinder hearts than do men. That’s an easy one. But what about their cardiac electrical system? The headline in the subject line of the email reads, AFib Ablation in Women: Are We Undertreating? I looked at this study a number of days ago, and initially thought–except for the number […]
Category: General Ablation
On the way out of the exam room, after proclaiming her happiness on being cured of a lifelong arrhythmia by a single 4mm radio-frequency ablation lesion, the patient shows me the hospital bill and asks why it costs 39,000 dollars? Of course, the answer requires a few words. We are young doctors in training, learning […]
One of the often sad facts of ablation in the private world of electrophysiology is the lack of “learners,” or visitors who call on our EP lab. Heck, even Henry David enjoyed the occasional visitor to his cabin in the woods. When an inventor, patent holder and heart surgeon with his engineering wiz kid asked […]
Catheter Ablation of the planets most ubiquitous arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation was in the news this week. A study showing pulmonary vein isolation is far more effective than drugs for controlling AF in a relatively young healthy patient cohort who has failed a prior anti-arrhythmic drug. It strikes me as an intellectually honest study: 5645 patients […]
Today, after a string of hard but professionally gratifying days in the EP lab, a nurse and friend asks me at dinner time while still working in the lab, “Hey, how’s that reading books and writing thing going?” Â Funny how a question lingers in the mind. A discovery is in the midst. Â Not huge […]
When in medical school we learned that the pulmonary veins carry blood from the lungs to the heart like a simple pipe. Now we know that pulmonary veins previously thought to be inert pipes often hold the triggers for the the most common arrhythmia on earth, atrial fibrillation. Cardiac muscle bundles wrapped around these veins […]
Just when one can discover little good news in the health care reform dreariness, a text message comes from the hospital vice president overseeing cardiac care. The hospital board has approved expansion of the current dated EP (electrophysiology) lab to two modern labs side by side. Capital investments like this are not for the faint […]
There are many highlights of this outstanding meeting but the live cases are always a standout. Today there were 2 from Rochester, MN and one from Boston. Live ablation procedures on real life patients are beamed into the lecture hall via some mysterious satellite through a maze of cables. The operators, with their NFL-coach […]
Just when news in medicine seems all bad there comes some gratification in the lab… The patient calls and says her heart rate has been 120 beats per minute for a couple of weeks. There is progressive shortness of breath, increased fatigue and now some swelling. Similar symptoms that were present four years ago when […]
Why would referring a patient directly to a specialist save money, time and patient outcomes? Exhibit A: A 75 year old male presents to his family doctor with a heart rate of 120. Just some palpitations and a little “funny feeling in my chest.” No pain, no shortness of breath, no dizziness. Examination shows a […]
I give you this outstanding piece on the essence of cyclocross. On this same day that “runzen” pens this treatise, our PapaJohn’s sponsored Storm the Greens gets a really nice shout-out in the CJ. There is little to add to “runzen,” except to spin the sensations described into the larger picture of health and life. […]