Pulsed Field Ablation is one of the latest, if not the latest, advancement in ablation technique. Previously limited to the pulmonary veins, there now has been a development to address also the left atrial posterior wall:
Hi Doodle68. I was off the computer for almost two months so sorry I missed your posts. So glad you kept this forum up to date on recent breakthroughs. We need that to offset the doom and gloom some members may feel.
Also, thank you for the three links. I am looking forward to digesting the information.
Just a couple of observations - this appears to be selective trial if I am understanding the terminology that all who took part had been pre-selected to be treated? Second Observation - 80% were male??? I know it is unethical to do blind trials of this nature but couldn’t see much about criteria for selection - but I did only skim it.
As you say - any advance is welcome if it really does improve outcomes.
Absolutely, CDreamer. There was a lot of selectivity in this trial because at its current stage, it is not suitable for everyone. But, the very fact that medicine is exploring out of the box procedures compared to the current ones gives hope that eventually procedures for AF will be routine, short, and permanent. I was trying to make the point that Pulsed Electric Field is not completely out of reach for some persistent cases.
As patients, we need to keep a sharp eye on current procedures and their consequences, and you have been doing that beautifully through your feedbacks on this forum.
I believe that traditionally trials have been male orientated. It is only recently that they have discovered that sometimes medication etc can be more effective for one sex or another.
Women have a more active immune system & more likely to develop autoimmune conditions & there is some evidence that ablation adversely affects those people. There are many examples of gender difference tolerance as women’s symptoms present very differently for quite a few conditions, including heart attack.
I have a dangerous intolerance to all heart meds so when a cardiologist told me I wouldn’t have AF if I took Bisoprolol I was fuming - I’m not one to dissolve into tears - he got both barrels.
All of our history is relevant - gender, sex, age, race and culture & is only now being recognised but the dominance of white, male, middle class thinking that mechanistic cause and affect eg: Ablate the rogue signals detracts from - what is the underlying cause? And how can we help you as an individual?
Trials are important, as are advances but I wish there was a little more equality in the reporting for whom a particular treatment would be relevant to.
I had a consult with my EP last week and we talked about this, sounds very exciting and could be a game changer for treating AF. He was very positive about the current trials in progress too, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.
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