Does anyone have any experience with "the Wolf Procedure?"

[Pommerania78]

Does anyone have any experience with "the Wolf Procedure?"

[mjames1]

It's a surgical mini maze which can sometimes help when a catheter ablation cannot. MummyLuv should have more information.

Jim

[ozziebob]

If you do a HealthUnlocked Search 🔍 for "minimaze", you will get the following list of past Posts and Replies on this subject. Most will be about Dr Wolf's procedure (minimaze), but not all ...

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

I would also like to recommend the informative illustrated Posts of saulger who travelled to Tokyo (for cost reasons) for a similar procedure with Dr Ohtsuka, a colleague of Dr Wolf.

healthunlocked.com/user/sau...

[Precambrian]

I had the Wolf procedure in late February of this year. My experience was not as positive (so far) as most folks. I was doing great for about 3 weeks, then I started having very aggressive Afib with long pauses (heart stoppage) that would make me almost faint. They tried correcting that with a cardioversion but that didn't work. Later the same day they put in a pacemaker. Feeling great now. I'm still optimistic about the Wolf Mini Maze doing what it's supposed to do - stop afib. The recovery from heart inflammation brought on by the procedure is 2 to 3 months, then things are supposed to settle down. My recovery was interrupted. This is far from common as far as I know. There is a Facebook group of former Wolf MM folks that has a lot of info. You should seek that out for a more balanced experience profile. facebook.com/groups/4129396...

[ozziebob in reply to Precambrian]

Are you in the UK? If so, my understanding is that no-one undergoes a Wolf minimaze unless they travel to Houston, with the closest alternative version being performed in Tokyo by Dr Ohtsuka, a colleague of Dr Wolf.

It would be helpful if you could detail exactly what kind of "minimaze" you received, which surgeon, and which hospital, in order mainly to help others on the Forum (me) discriminate better between the various "minimazes" that now seem to be available in UK.

Thanks, bob.

[Precambrian in reply to ozziebob]

I live in Houston, TX. It was Dr Wolf who performed the surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital.

[ozziebob in reply to Precambrian]

Thanks, that's very helpful. But you must see you would have saved me (and you) a lot of unnecessary effort if your Bio had included just a few details like country of residence. My experience in UK is that when UK based Forum members talk about their minimaze, they are talking about significantly different procedures.

Hope your situation resolves more positively for you. I too would be heading to Houston if I had a choice.

Bob.

[mav7 in reply to Precambrian]

Thanks for sharing your story and hopes for a full recovery.

Can you briefly share your prior afib history ? e.g., paroxysmal or persistent, how long, and any complications that may have affected the complications of the Wolf procedure ?

[Precambrian in reply to mav7]

I've had paroxysmal Afib for about 5 years. No previous interventions other than taking flecainide and Eliquis. I had the pauses in the past. It's basically your heart trying to reset itself when in Afib. This however was pretty extreme and quite scary.

[mav7 in reply to Precambrian]

Thanks for the reply and best to You !

[Pommerania78 in reply to Precambrian]

Why do you think you had initial difficulties? Thanks.

[Tapanac]

do look up MummyLuv she went into this with great detail and is content in that it is a complete success for her

I believe she had it performed by Stephen Hunter in Sheffield.

Many others on here have had mini maze procedures and all seem very happy with the results

Good luck

[MummyLuv]

hello Pommerania78 , I am assuming you are in the US. Dr Wolf has a super website and he hosts monthly webinars which are very informative on his procedure and surgical ablation in general. The Facebook group that has been posted above is brilliant, there are many dr wolf patients there sharing their success and challenges, it is run by 2018NSR who is a nurse and an amazing support not just for Dr Wolf’s patients but to many of us early adopters here in the UK. It’s definitely worth researching and considering as one of your options.