Yep came out two days ago, and the issue was fully discussed at ISLAA International Symposium on Left Atrial Appendage in February. The concensus is that its true too many EPs with little to no dry stick pericardial access experience and/or interventional Cardios with little to no experience working with the LAA in general jumped in too soon to do these new procedures as every hospital was ruby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Keep in mind Safib this study is NOT talking about a complete expert ablation PROCESS .. asymptomatic patients are nearly ALL persistent AFIB who by definition often require a second and occasionally a third true touch up only, for the last one or two max follow up procedures after a top tier full index ablation, in order to achieve the approx. 85 % freedom from AFIB levels long term that is veryby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes Liz, I have published a few study reviews over the last year and a half showing very strong correlation with early stage Alzheimers and AFIB patients from large registries of AFibbers, that fact that the younger groups of AFibbers under 70 had the most significant impact from dementia and Alzheimers strongly implied that these were not just two co-existing morbities that share similar etiologby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
The big ongoing risk we are finding now with unaddressed AFIB whether symptomatic or aysmptomic is the now large wave of research in the last 3 to 5 years that has confirm Silent Cerebral Ischemia indeed is THE number one issue after anticoagulation issue is addresed.. but the ongoing presence of AFIB even complicates the OAC issue too long term as now long view evidence shows that a fair amountby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Folks, Just to let you all know the June/July 2015 summer issue of The AFIB Report is now on its way to subscribers inboxes everywhere. In this issue we announce the imminent start to our long anticipated website make over efforts and I'm pleased to announce that one of our own frequent forum posters, Travis Van Slooten, has agreed to jump in the ring and help guide the technical eby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Anti-AFIB, There are plenty of Cardios and EPs that check in here all the time but never post or register to post at all, as its not considered good form at all for a doctor within the same field to jump into a patient's forum and try to dictate policy, when the very purpose of a forum like this is to provide a safe and open venue for patients to express all of their questions, concerns aby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
For the many years I've lived in Hawaii, including my procedures with Dr Natale done then, all my medical care on the mainland has been covered by Hawaii based insurance and any other procedures like my three cervical fusions in the mid to late 80's, two of which were done in San Francisco. Shannon PS George, yes for sure either a PPO or with Medicare a full Medicare Plus policy tby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Outside of circadian rhythm testing of Cortisol ( and it does not include adrenal metabolites which are essential for a deeper understanding of underlying influence and etiology of adrenal disfunction, Saliva testing is by far the least useful method and often very misleading for hormone testing after one is already taking hormone replacement therapy. It has some utility in the virgin patienby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
I can answer this one and settle your mind at ease Apache. Dr Natale's group does NOT reuse catheters and sheaths now at all. At one point, many years ago, they used to have a professional sterilization lab re-sterilize the echo camera part of the ICE catheter for reuse elsewhere, but never any other catheters or sheaths and they have not even done that for years now. Right after Dr Naby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sorry to hear of your drawn out and uncomfortable recovery RonM,, some people do have variable recovery experiences that so far everyone I know who went to Austin, CPMC or La Jolla has indeed pretty much recovered thoroughly with a little time. Concerning you specific issues, have you had neck problems before? Such neck issues can indeed happen from laying flat on the table under anesthesia foby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
They shave and scrub all area of minor punctures for catheter inserting the morning of the procedure as Dr Natales clinical EP OR staff does NOT dont want patients shaving themselves with dull and bacteria ridden non-sterile razors and increasing infection and irritation risk that way the night before the procedure. Hibiclens is typically only used for open incision procedures. They use theby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Well said Anti-Fib, That pretty much covers it! It is a multifactorial issue with great individual biochemical, physiologic and genetic variability and that, along with timing too in one's disease progression when certain steps are discovered and applied, can all form together in a very complex dance that impacts whether or not one is likely to rest control of the beast long term withoutby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Que, Your new EP sounds like she is informed and good recommendations overall, Though you will have the 6 month follow up screening for that week to days prior to your 6 month meeting followup in which you will be monitored 24/7 from Natales office via a monitor they will send you then as well. So no real need to duplicate efforts with the Zio patch then. A structural echo is likely unnecessarby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Please do send me your full story Dean! And very nice to hear from you again after such a long long time! I love Natto too, still eat it often myself and your original story got me started on it way back when... of course still living in Hawaii then I had plenty of good sources of Natto and learned to discriminate between various qualities from my many Japanese friends over my 38 years thby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Peter, Dr Natale doesn't feel the supplements do any harm, and may help in a small way with some patients but he doesn't recommend them for a variety of reasons. Keep in mind too that in his experience working with thousands of patients, by the time he typically gets a chance to see any of them their AFIB is most often beyond the ability to reverse or terminate with magnesium or pby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Monty,. Sorry for the inconvenience for sure, but you are much better off without this Doc handling your care. Apparently he would rather pick up his ball and go home and not treat you at all if you didn't let him ablate you.. That kind of arrogance is dangerous and very much too bad, but not at all unheard of. There are many wonderful men and women EPs that I have met, the majority sby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Far too many still just repeat the entire ablation as a rote process, and it can impact scar formation when you are on your third or fourth PVI and the EP(s) are just going around and round the same circular PV isolation patterns. It certainly increases overall ablation burden as well. One of the best metrics for skill quality of an ablationist is the percentage of reconnections they find on rby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
AA, Ive been planning for a while that as soon as we get the website redesign up and going in the hands of the designers to execute, I am going to make a strong effort to reconnect with as many of those from Conference room 61 as I can still locate with their original email addresses and run a new survey of questions for them intending to find out without any preconceived bias in the form or tonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
You will be fine Alangford, really, titrate the Toprol if you go into AFIB again to get your rate to 110 or lower /.. or at least under 120bpm, preferably less than 100 and 90bpm would be ideal and in any of those scenarios you can sail into the ablation Aug 12. I had severely symptomatic persistent AFIB for 3 full months non-stop prior to my initial ablation and as noted finally got it underby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
HI Mørk, It's Monday evening here and a slightly shorter reply.. before signing off for now on this thread. Though first, I would still very much like to speak with you by phone if you will PM me, as it takes too much of my time going back and forth here when we can make far easier and quicker progress toward better mutual understanding and resolve my remaining questions and learn moreby Shannon - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Check with Shirley or Barbara as you still have over a month out for the relatively short duration you took AMIO, that timing might still work, though Im just not sure. He may just crank up the Isuprel ( isoproterenol) to help get any remaining Mexican Jumping beans hopping during the ablation. Will ring later when I can. Hang in there! Shannon PS, Good news! just off the phone witby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Dang it ALangford!! Wish you could have called me again before taking AMioderone UGH INDEED!! I know its hard in an ER when you are nervous and are rather new to all this.. We have reams of info on this site about staying way clear of Amio for at least 3 months minimum or longer if you have been on it for some time, but if you only took it once perhaps Dr Natale can do it in a bit lessby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi PeggyM I own the whole show now. Hans and Judi are blissfully and gratefully retired. The General Health forum too is not a second class forum at all in my view. It's a good place for more in-depth explorations of new therapies and new, or as yet perhaps not fully fleshed out and tried and true conceptual approaches to a wide range of health issues, including those areas around AFIB tby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
True enough AA and thanks for the nice thoughts ... and will do! When a topic like this comes up I typically dictate ( for better or worse my replies in the early morning, when out on errands in the car or later at night before shutting down and then post them during the day when I have a moment and do a quick check on the forum to see if any new folks have signed up and need to be authorizby Shannon - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
H Jackie, No time to respond properly right now, as Magda's mother this morning in the hospital in Canada suffered a massive stroke and may not last through tomorrow and am un to my eyeballs trying to get her on a flight tonight and up to Kelowna, hopefully before her mom passes but she might linger for a week or so during this comfort support period we were told today.Its all pretty upby Shannon - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Hi Mørk, Thanks for the added info and details, I had actually dictated a fair portion of my initial long reply above over a week prior to reading this threads opening topic intro day before yesterday morning. And I had rather been hoping the issue would naturally find it's own balance in the back and forth discussions here over the past two months. However, the combination of receiving aby Shannon - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Hi Liz, Yes, I've meet Dr Brownstein a couple times at various BHRT conferences where he occasionally speaks as well. He is a very capable functional/holistic MD with an open mind and a wealth of experience in my view. I've read a few of his books and know of other patients of his, in addition to yourself, who have done well with his guidance. And Liz, your hunch has merit in thaby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
It varies for some but most of us have ... or had ... issues lying on the left side. A lesser number seem that have right side problems and for some it doesn't seem to matter, but the predominant uncomfortable flippy sidedness for Afibbers seems to be on the left for sure. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Optimal range for you Que is 70-75ng/ml of 25(OH)D3. At 20ng/ml you are far to low to enjoy any of the huge array of potential health benefits beyond the most basic impact on bone growth and support. You are getting almost none of the real immune boosting, anti inflammatory and myriad other benefits possible when maintaining sufficient Vitamin D levels .. Also take proportional Vitamin K.by Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Always great to hear from you Denver! Here's to another ten years enjoying the good life. Keep us posted too. Cheers! Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM