Does anyone remember please.

[Frances123]

Recently someone posted a link to a an article about hospital that was doing (I think) pulse field ablation. I think it was about 10-14 days ago. All my tabs suddenly closed this evening and I hadn’t saved the page. Does anyone still have the link please or can remind me who the poster was? Many thanks.

[baba]

Going to post two screen shots, hopefully!

Not sure if it’s what you were searching for.

Screenshot

[baba in reply to baba]

This should have been first Need to click on image to see in full

Screenshot

[Frances123 in reply to baba]

Thank you but it wasn’t that. It was only a couple of weeks ago if that. The link took you to an article at the hospital and the doctors involved. I think the hospital was in the midlands somewhere?

[Karendeena in reply to Frances123]

I don't have the link but I do know Glenfield Hospital in Leicester are now doing pulse field ablations. I spoke to my EP only two weeks ago and asked him how it was going

[Sixtychick in reply to Karendeena]

Hi Karendeena, I wondered if Glenfield were going to do them, as I couldn’t find any info on it. The Pulse field ablation sounds as though it’s much more successful then than the other sorts, but still hoping my ablation will keep the awful AFib away and it won’t need repeating,🤞🤞 but it’s good to know this new ablation technique is being used at Glenfield now, in case I had to had another one. Hope you’re doing ok and your ablation keeps your AFib away too. Have a good Xmas. Cath.

[Karendeena in reply to Sixtychick]

ItHi Cath, yes Prof Ng said they were using it now so I agree with you, if I need it repeating ( 🤞 I won't) I would prefer this as I understand it's quicker and carries less risks. I am doing ok thanks. I have a holter monitor on in August after 4 months, he was really pleased with the results, said I had 'occasional ectopic beats' and only 3 runs of tachycardia lasting less than 3 seconds (didn't feel that!). He said it was successful. I went to see him again two weeks ago and again he said he was pleased with my progress and would see me again in April next year. He won't let me come off Sotalol though but said I could drop the 40mg I took in the middle of the day but if I felt any wobbles to start it again. I don't think he's keen on me coming off it all together which is disappointing but I have to be led by his expertise. My heart rate remains about 10bpm more than pre ablation.

Please let the beast stay away I don't want to go through that again. It's been the first time I have had the confidence to fly abroad in 5 years, long may it continue 😊

How are you doing?

Merry Christmas, I still don't take any alcohol 🥰

Cheers, Karen

[Sixtychick in reply to Karendeena]

I am ok thanks. Just get occasional ectopics. My heart rate is also faster than it used to be. It’s supposed to be a good sign. I don’t drink any alcohol and only have decaffeinated tea and coffee. When I saw Dr Sandilands earlier this year, he told me to come off the Sotalol. I was on 80 mg twice a day and so I reduced it very very slowly and over a few weeks, I got it down to 20mg twice a day, then my blood pressure started to soar. Having worked as a nursing auxiliary and care assistant over the years, I knew it was too high, so rang 111 and they told me to go to A&E and they gave me medication there, to bring it down, but didn’t give me anything to take at home, anyway, this happened twice more and I was then given Amlodipine 5mg and told to go back on 40mg of Sotalol. Sotalol does bring your blood pressure down, which is why, when I reduced it to 20mg, my BP went up. The 5 mg dose of Amlodipine brought it right down to 105 systolic and made me feel lightheaded, so it was reduced to 2.5mg. Now it is about 120/65 which is good. When I spoke to Dr Sandilands last Wednesday, he told me to try again to reduce it and go back on 5 mg of Amlodipine, but I’m leaving it till after the new year, don’t want problems over Xmas. I would like to come off Sotalol, but not if it’s going to cause me problems. Never suffered with high blood pressure before. Hopefully we’ll both have had successful ablations, as the EP’s at Glenfield, are very experienced. 🤞🤞Here’s to a good 2025 and have a lovely Xmas.Cath

[sunlovah in reply to Frances123]

Was it Bournmouth? I've posted this previously Royal Bournmouth hospital/ Dr Bala can recommend .

uhd.nhs.uk/news/latest-news...

[Frances123 in reply to sunlovah]

Thank you. No I found it and it’s Staffordshire.

[CDreamer]

It may have been this uhcw.nhs.uk/news/uhcw-becom....

3 hospitals in UK currently offer PFA - Papworth - who did the original UK trials, Coventry - which the article is about and Cromwell, London (private).

Hope that helps.

[Frances123 in reply to CDreamer]

Thank you. I’ve done a lot of scrolling and have found it again. It’s a new minimally invasive procedure being done at the UHNM Staffordshire. It was posted by Afrun 12 days ago. I can’t seem to be able to copy link to show you.

Thank you for trying to help.

[waveylines in reply to Frances123]

Dont know where you are in the uk but in Sheffield: Mr Hunter, Cardiothoraisic Surgeon, Northern General Hospital does it too. He's been doing it for a while.

[mike1961 in reply to waveylines]

Just to be clear here; are you saying Dr Hunter offers the new procedure now being down at Staffs OR offers PFA?

[Goosebumps in reply to mike1961]

Mike. Mr Hunter is a Thorascopic surgeon not an EP and doesn’t do endo ablations ( inside the heart) to my knowledge.(e.g. Cryo, Radio Frequency or Pulsed field.) He does minimally invasive ( not open heart) epidermal ablations on the outside of the heart by entering from either side through the rib cage. He also occludes the Left Atrial Appendage ,meaning that you should be able to come off anticoagulants if he says so ( although current NHS guidelines are not to do so)

The ‘new’ procedure at Staffs mentioned in a recent post by Mummyluv is a minimally invasive epidermal ablation and an endo ablation at the same time (I believe but needs to be fact checked) but they enter through an incision below the rib cage for the endo part.Other hospitals also do this, BARTs for instance.

Hope that helps.

[waveylines in reply to mike1961]

Mr Hunter is a cardiothoraisic surgeon who offers a minimal invasive minimaze but will work in conjunction with an EP to perform a combine proceedure. He is based at Sheffield Northern General, Sheffield. Not Staffordshire. Hope that helps.

[Frances123 in reply to waveylines]

Thank you. I wasn’t sure if it was PF as hadn’t read all the article before I lost it. It is a new procedure but not sure what that is until I read it. Was just very interested.

[sunlovah in reply to CDreamer]

And Bournmouth, plus John Radcliffe, Oxford

[baba]

Glad you found it.

[Ppiman]

Was it Leicester's Glenfield Hospital? I am on the waiting list there for just that.

Steve

[Karendeena in reply to Ppiman]

I asked my EP how it was going at Glenfield. He said it's early days on results but they can do more in a day as it's a shorter process

[Frances123 in reply to Ppiman]

Thank you. No, this is at UHNM Staffordshire.

[Ppiman in reply to Frances123]

The NHS seems to have invested in the best and latest technologies. That’s good to know. Let’s hope they are training a whole lot more medical staff as well.

Steve

[Ppiman]

That's good to know. I expect mine won't be long now.

Steve

[Sixtychick in reply to Ppiman]

Hi Steve, Hope you get your ablation before too long. If you have the Pulse Field one, you’ll have to tell us all what it was like. I think you said you’d had an ablation before, so would be interesting to hear whether it was a better procedure. Have a good Xmas. Cath.

[Ppiman in reply to Sixtychick]

Hi Cath - yes, the last one was for atrial flutter in 2019 and was the older kind of ablation. I read that Leicester has bought the latest and greatest PF technology, so... fingers crossed!

Have a lovely Christmas. We've just had the most amazing blizzard with truly enormous flakes - very seasonal! The nearby hills are all Christmassy-white.

Steve

[Sixtychick in reply to Ppiman]

No snow in Hinckley. Sunshine here, for a change.! Where are you ?

[Ppiman in reply to Sixtychick]

That’s a surprise as we’re quite close by in Loughborough. The Charnwood hills were white over and looked absolutely wonderful. I get very nostalgic when it snows.

Merry Christmas!!

Steve

[Sixtychick in reply to Ppiman]

Thought it might be in the Charnwood area. I know it’s hilly round there.You’re about 20 miles away from here. !!

[Ppiman in reply to Sixtychick]

Ah, as a birdwatcher I've been to Hinckley several times over the years. The Burbage Bird Club is well known, and a few rarities have brought us twitching to the Common and Woods now and again (not that I twitch much at all except nearby!).!

Steve

[Sixtychick in reply to Ppiman]

Burbage Common is a nice place to walk. We take our Grandson there to the park sometimes.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Ppiman]

I get nostalgic about snow too Steve. When young I always thought I'd wake up Christmas morning to find it had snowed. Living in Devon now we rarely get snow.

[Ppiman in reply to jeanjeannie50]

The sight of snow takes me back to so many happy times as a child. Whenever it snowed back then, the three of us lads would rush out. To see it in the lamplight was magical. It must have snowed more in those days. My mother loved it, too.

Looking at the weather forecast, you seem to get far more wind and the rain down your way. We're having a very windy day today, though, with gusts of well over 40mph and so bitterly cold. It's howling around the house as I type.

This snippet from Wordsworth's poem, The Prelude captures it well:

"And in the frosty season, when the sun

Was set, and visible for many a mile

The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom,

I heeded not their summons: happy time

It was indeed for all of us—for me

It was a time of rapture!"

Steve

[mike1961]

Pulsed field isn't any better than RF in terms of efficacy in the direct sense. But it IS a lot safer in that there is little to no risk of collateral damage to adjacent structures most importantly including the oesophagus. I guess you could say that this makes it more efficacious in the indirect sense in that EPs - particularly those with less than 100 procedures under their belt - can fully concentrate on creating continuous lesions rather than holding back worrying about damaging adjacent structures.

[Sixtychick in reply to mike1961]

I was lucky, my EP told me he had done over 2000 ablations. Well experienced, so hopefully he did a good job on me.!!!

[Ppiman in reply to mike1961]

It might well prove to be more efficacious in the sense that more ablating can be done (just writing that, though, brings me to think that this is still a very odd thing to do to the inside of the heart!).

The sensitivity of the pulmonary veins to stenosis remains, however, and I imagine that must be the key issue regarding efficacy and safety, unchanged by its being pulsed field.

Steve

[MTBCyclist]

I did not see the post but I know One Wellbeck do in London.