Magnetic Imaging Ablation

[samjam1]

Does anyone have a list of surgeons in the UK and Ireland who use Magnetic Imaging like Dr Sabine Ernst?

Thanks

Sam

[BobD Volunteer]

I believe that she is the only one and a pioneer in the field. So as not to confuse., her system uses giant rare earth magnets to steer the catheter. Magnetic imaging is MRI to most people.

[samjam1 in reply to BobD]

Thanks for clarifying that!

[pottypete1]

Dr Ernst also uses the state of the art 3D imaging system which is a significant step forward. This is being used by a number the regional heart care centres of excellence in the UK.

Pete

[Redders in reply to pottypete1]

Does that include Derriford hospital In Plymouth please ?

[pottypete1 in reply to Redders]

I don’t know sorry. You will have to check. I know that big cardiac units draw patients from a very wide geographical area. Might also be worth checking out Bristol. I know that Southampton has but my guess is that you are not in their catchment area.

Pete

[Redders in reply to pottypete1]

Thanks Pete. I know Southampton is one of the bigger cardiac units but Plymouth is quite big. I’ll have to ask the question

[mike1961]

I wondered about Sabine Ernst, but my impression is that she’s more research-oriented than doing ablations day in day out. The overriding thing to look for when choosing an EP is operator experience. As in how many thousand ablations have they done and with what success rates/ outcomes. Fancy tech is not the be all and end all. Not many EPs provide hard stats. Richard Schilling being the notable exception so far as his own private work at The London AF Centre at London Bridge Hospital is concerned at least.

[samjam1 in reply to mike1961]

I'll be checking those points next week.

[mike1961 in reply to samjam1]

Please do keep us posted samjam1.

[mike1961 in reply to samjam1]

What did you learn samjam1?

[fifitb]

I am thrilled to read the posts about Sabine Ernst as I asked for a referral to the Royal Brompton Hospital, and met her there only two weeks ago. I was getting nowhere with my local hospital, and tried to see my Cardiologist for over a year, and have not seen him or the EP since my first ablation (for Atrial Flutter) last July. I have been having 'episodes' of AFib since, and asked to see him many time, with even my GP writing to him, all to no avail. I eventually saw the arrhythmia nurse. She said, in a very matter of fact way, that my episodes were to be expected (what??!). Well, I don't think so. It has made my Quality of Life worse, e.g. the fact I sometimes need to call an ambulance and end up in A&E, I am unable to fly out to the USA to see my new baby grandson (my son in concerned!), and my ideas of a new home with a warden is at risk as they don't want the warden disturbed by ambulances turning up! And, I work part-time and have had 'episodes' at work, and I am very symptomatic!

SO - I met with Sabine Ernst last week, and it was amazing. No waiting about for hours, I saw her on time, if not before schedule, and she spoke with me for an hour. She is so on the ball, and caring at the same time. She believes I should have HAD a second ablation done at the same time for 'fibrillation' not just for 'flutter'. She is trying to squeeze me in for this second ablation asap. Since then, I've had texts and correspondence in the post, a completely different scenario from my local hospital. I had been feeling as though they did not care about me at all. Also, Dr Ernst will do the ablation herself - I will not be passed on to her team (as happened to me the first time, and it lasted 3 hours instead of the expected one and a half). As it was only a local anaesthetic, it was not nice and quite uncomfortable and scary.

Hopefully, I shall have the ablation soon - although I'd rather not have to go through it, it seems it will help. I trust Dr Ernst. It was suggested I see her as my friend's son has been helped by her and other medical staff at the Royal Brompton, and my friend said her son would not be alive without the treatment he has received there.

I hope this will help people who are perhaps not happy with their care - you can ask for a referral!

I shall let you know when I am due to go in and what happens afterwards.

(Sorry if this is a bit long!)

[samjam1 in reply to fifitb]

Thanks for the post.

[mike1961 in reply to fifitb]

Are you having your forthcoming procedure by Sabine Ernst privately or on the NHS??

What I’ve so far preferred about Richard Schilling is that he does provide hard success rates for both paroxysmal and persistent AF for both one and two procedures - Sabine’s private secretary couldn’t provide me with any such info and said I’d have to ask Sabine myself. That said, from everything I’ve read (and that’s a LOT!) you’re surely in a great pair of hands if Sabine is doing your procedure herself!

[fifitb in reply to mike1961]

On the NHS!

[pottypete1]

Very interesting. It just goes to show how each team differs in skill, resources and communication skills.

I am very pleased for you.

Pete

[Achant1]

They have state of the art cath labs at Brompton and Harefield, surely more than one ep uses these?

[mike1961]

Also (from some reading around this last half hour) looks like Ernst isn’t a huge fan of cryo (that Schilling uses pretty much all the time now as I understand it). The big drawback with cryo is that one can only do PVI with it. I wonder if Schilling still uses RF privately (it’s more time consuming - hence why the NHS are pushing forward with cryo) as well as when a right AFL ablation is also required. I’ll have to look into this.