Case Study Pindara Private Hospital now has a dedicated electrophysiology laboratory, offering ablation procedures from February 2014. GENERAL HEALTH Allow me to share my story with you and how my atrial arrhythmia changed my life. I am an active, 40-year-old male who works as a state manager for a busy company. My life was heavily impacted by an atrial arrhythmia. My symptoms were a racing heart with anxiety, tiredness and shortness of breath walking up stairs and general exercise. These symptoms told me something was very wrong and I booked an appointment with Dr Ben Hunt to get it checked. We started with a 24-hour holter monitor to see what was happening with my heart and to capture my heart rhythm when I had the above described symptoms. The holter was returned and analysed which showed in fact I had an atrial arrhythmia at 160-180 beat per minute. The next step was medication to try and cease my arrhythmia, consisting of beta blockers, which fatigued me. I was light headed, tired, foggy, unable to sleep and it had zero impact on my heart slowing down. I then had another drug added to my beta blocker called flecainide which also had no effect on my atrial arrhythmia and worsened my side effects. A week had now passed, and I was not working or sleeping. I was very anxious and desperate to have my heart rate back to normal, as I was unable have a normal life. I was unable to play with my three-year-old and six-year-old boys or spend time quality time with my wife, as we were both stressed about my condition. Dr Ben Hunt said, “we can fix this problem by undergoing an ablation”. For just a one-night stay in hospital and a two to four-hour procedure, I had a good chance to get back to a normal heart rhythm. With all the small risks described, I jumped at the chance to get my life back. Dr Ben Hunt was compassionate, professional and friendly and I knew I was in great hands. My procedure took four hours, however he was able to find and destroy the arrhythmia that had changed my life. Although I felt a little sore with some indigestion and light headedness post procedure, I had a normal heart rate again. I had a week of recovery and felt normal, apart from those mild side effects. I am now back to normal and 100% healthy thanks to this amazing procedure called an ablation and the wonderful skills of Dr Ben Hunt. I am no longer on medication and my heart rate is normal. Dr Hunt gave me my life back and I can’t thank him enough for what he has done for my family and I. to atrial fi brillation and causes an irregular pulse) supraventricular tachycardia (a sudden onset racing of the heart) and ventricular tachycardia (the bottom chambers of the heart - the ventricles - beat very rapidly). Over the last few years, the mechanisms of how these heart rhythm problems occur has become very well understood. These problems are actually due to abnormal circuitry in the heart that can be addressed with medication or an ablation. An ablation is when fl exible wires are inserted into a vein in the top of the leg, fl oated into the heart where the abnormal circuit is identifi ed and then disrupted by applying heat to the problem area. The procedure requires sophisticated equipment, known as an electrophysiology laboratory, and a highly trained team including an Electrophysiologist (a doctor who specialises as a heart electrician), electrophysiology technicians to run the computers and equipment, nurses and radiographers to help with the x-ray equipment need for the procedure. Ablations are safe and effective interventions. Success rates vary depending on the heart rhythm problem. A 98% cure for life can be achieved for some problems (such as supraventricular tachycardia) with a single procedure, and around a 90% cure for life for atrial fl utter. Atrial fi brillation cure rates are over 80%, but patients may require more than one procedure to achieve this. Complication rates are low; they vary depending on the type of ablation and range from two to fi ve percent in total. Possible complications include substantial bruising and bleeding in the top of the leg where the wires are inserted, problems from the anaesthetic (such as a lung infection), blood around the heart (known as tamponade), and very small risks of stroke and need for a pacemaker following the procedure. After an ablation patients often experience a tight sensation in their chest and a small bruise on the top of the leg that resolves over a week or so. Following this, they can look forward to living confi dently without the racing pulse, shortness of breath or intermittent trips to hospital so frequently caused by heart rhythm disorders. pm Pindara Magazine 16 Summer - Autumn | 2014
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue One
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