Innovative Technology for Treating Atrial Fibrillation

[mmarshall]

i'm not sure how long this has been around but i guess it is new in north texas. it caught my attention since the surgeon that did my avr is doing this new procedure. i did not experience any a-fib issues after surgery but it was explained to me younger patients have a lower occurance/probability rate than older patients having ohs. i forgot the age range but he did not see me having any problems. anyways...here is the link talking about the new procedure. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/11-28-2005/0004223201&EDATE=

[geebee]

This sounds very interesting as it is virtually non-invasive. I wonder if it can be performed on someone with an artificial valve.

[RCB]

As usual, with PR, they leave out the really important information. First of all, the success rate of the Cox-Maze procedure is no where near the 97 percent rate given in the article- the stats have been "massaged". Go to Jack Drum website for a more acurate discussion of "cure rates". McCarthy at NW has being doing HIFU for a couple years now with mixed results. If you have had open heart surgery, you are NOT A CANIDATE for this procedure according to what McCarthy's nurse told me. Scar tissue make it impossible.

I have seen a lot of PR releases and the all seem to be more about pumping up stock price, rather than imparting medical knowledge!:(