Atrial fibrillation remains one of the most common cardiac diagnosis, and dementia is one of Neurology’s most frequent diagnosis. Â Recently, a study from a Utah group of electrophysiologists showed that AF predisposes to all forms of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. The study involved 37.000 patients, and was published in the prominent and well respected Heart […]
Category: AF ablation
Even in Bordeaux, expensive robots prove no better than the human hands, in AF ablation. As presented last week at HRS, the justifiably famous Bordeaux group compared the highly proclaimed (especially in the mainstream media) robotic ablation system against the conventional human approach, and concluded the following… Conclusions: MNS (ed. note: MNS=robot) guided PVI in patients […]
He seeks me out for another opinion about his atrial fibrillation. This is good. “Doc, you know I had one of those ablation procedures (at another hospital) last year. It hasn’t seemed to work, as I am having lots of AF.” About that time, my MA comes in the room with a copy of the […]
To give credit when credit is due is right and just. Medical industry absorbs, in both the mainstream media and the blogosphere, their fair share of body blows. So here comes a glowing review of a new technology that has lived up to its hype. Carto 3 is the next generation three-dimensional cardiac mapping system, from […]
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I don’t think so…
Will slackers lead us to health-care shangri-la? I know a fair number of slackers; it seems highly unlikely they will be leading health-care anywhere. Oops, I am two years from slackerdom. On the WSJ health blog, delivered to me by my new adventure, Twitter, an executive level think-taker is quoted as saying about our present-day health care […]
The chief actuary of CMS has recently released a 20,000 word document stating that even with the expected cost savings from our new health-care law, medical costs will continue to increase. Shocking. Our new health-care law means well. It will surely help some, like those with pre-existing conditions. As a preamble, I need to say: […]
Medical prowess has exploded in the past decade. Â The toolbox of therapeutic options has grown so large that often times, the most challenging aspect of patient care is in matching the right tool to the right patient. Â There is no better example than the expanding capability to ablate atrial fibrillation. Now that I can successfully […]
The patient is anxiously sitting on the exam table. A notebook, a pencil and many papers from the internet and other doctors are close at hand. A spouse sits in the accompanying chair with an equally anxious face that says without words, “please help us out here.” The problem at hand is atrial fibrillation. Paroxysms […]
I walked out of the hospital with heavy shoulders and my head held low. It was many years ago as a younger doctor. An arrhythmia arose from a difficult area to navigate to, and in trying hard to ablate this area, a terrible complication ensued. The rest of the day was spent dealing with this […]
Freezing the heart is in the news. Â The STOP-AF trial was presented at ACC, and it sure has generated much excitement about atrial fibrillation ablation. Â This is a good thing. However, as is the norm in the era of instantaneous news, the press reports read much differently than reality. The propaganda has an effect. I […]
Atrial fibrillation therapy continues to grow in complexity. Â Thus far, an easy cure has remained elusive. Â The potential of discovering an easy cure of AF –and the resultant immense profits –has provided fertile soil for medical device companies. Â But, like in a garden, fertile soil provides for the growth of both beautiful plants and weeds. […]