Hi everyone,
I am due to have the Wolf mini maze in England next month. I am reluctant to take the drug amiodarone and I just wondered if anyone had had this procedure or similar and not taken amiodarone. Just how helpful is it in converting to sinus rhythm? Many thanks.
who is doing your mini maze? It won’t be the wolf method as surgeons here don’t tend to do the ganglionic plexi they do maze on the back of the left atria, dr Wolf’s method isn’t technically a mini maze 😂
I had mini maze in the UK last May (Mr Hunter). I was more nervous about Amiodarone than I was about the actual surgery. I did it as I was closely monitored with blood tests. It never put me into sinus rhythm before surgery (that was not expected) but it did help hold me in rhythm afterwards which is why surgeons tend to use it, to help in the early stages of your scars healing. I came off it at 2 months post surgery rather than the planned 3 but it still takes a while to come out your system as it has a long half life. I did have high liver toxicity readings in my blood test and bad nausea so came off early.
You will only be using it short term and with the right monitoring you’ll be able to take action if any of the side effects happen.
Good luck!,
many thanks for this reply MummyLuv. I did in fact use the term WMM as a shorthand. It is indeed being done by Stephen Hunter in Sheffield using a convergent procedure.
exciting for you. Mr Hunter is excellent and as you’ll already know a straight talker with no ego. Are you having two stage convergent or both together? You’ll be low dose Amiodarone, just make sure your GP does a baseline blood test and then keeps an eye on you afterwards. Mr Hunter will have written to them anyway telling them to do that.
how are you getting on? I’m thinking you may have has or be about to get your catheter ablation. Wishing you all the very best.
hi Alison,
Not done too well since the procedure. Ended up in A&E twice due to acute breathlessness. Admitted to cardio ward last Wednesday and had a cardio version on Friday. This has been partially successful in shifting me from persistent AF to intermittent. Saw my cardiologist on Friday and he intends to do the follow up catheter ablation in a couple of months. Seeing Mr Hunter next Wednesday for follow up consultation. Just started on Dronedarone. Cheers. Keith
awe Keith what a tough run! That breathlessness would have been frightening, what did cardiology say, are you suffering from inflammation? as it’s a two stage procedure your lesions won’t be complete yet to be in NSR . Good luck on Wednesday, please stay in touch let me know how you are doing x
The amiodorone dose is what puts you in sinus. So if put on a high dose to put you into NSR you would be kept in hospital and given the dose. I imagine you will be on amidorone at a lower dose for a period of weeks or months around the operation. I had this for my second Cardioversion and I had no problems with it at all, just a slight rise in thyroid after my time on the amiodorone was up which after coming off the amiodorone was corrected within 6 weeks. You should be well monitored with blood tests so if anything happened you would be able to come off the amiodorone. The amiodorone did help to keep me in NSR.
many thanks, that was very helpful.
Hi Desanthony, rather late reply here, but have only recently been put on amiodarone and I’m looking up posts on the forum. I hope you are well. I wondered how long you were on amiodarone and how long they kept you on it after the cardioversion. Waiting lists are long now for treatment but I’m hoping to have a cardioversion in the next few weeks as the first was unsuccessful and I’m a bit nervous about the buildup of toxins. It’s helpful to know your thyroid levels came down after stopping the drug. Best wishes, Jo
I was on it for about 6 weeks either side of the cardioversion - so 3 months in all.
hello,
Good luck with the procedure.
I had a consultant with Dr Ohtsuka in Japan a few weeks ago and his main concern was the fact that I take Thyroxine for my low thyroid function. He felt that Amiodorone would not be appropriate for me after the procedure as it’s too toxic to the thyroid. He wants me to have a thyroid blood panel done to look at the stability of my thyroid before deciding. He told me that not being able to use Amiodorone would reduce the success rate to about 70% which was disappointing to hear.
So, this suggests that it is important for the heart to be kept in rhythm post op and Amiodorone is the drug of choice.
All the best
good to read about your consultation although disappointing on the amiodarone. Look forward to hearing what route you decide.
it’s the only option so far. I haven’t heard back from Steve Hunter - I’m not sure why.
goodness really, is that through the keyhole heart clinic? If so you’re the second person that has said that. If you PM me your email I will send it to him directly for you
I was told that amiodarone is uniquely useful and safe when given in low dose and with monitoring. his might reassure you:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Steve
Do you have paroxysmal or persistent Afib?
persistent
Amiodarone was the only thing that kept me in NSR after any of my procedures. It was a low dose of 200mg a day and I had no problems what so ever. Good luck.
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