OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK A heart out of rhythm caused fatigue and worry for volunteer fireman Thomas Buehler. Since his AFib ablation procedure, he says the anxiety and stress he once felt are gone.
Unlocking the Dimensions of the Human Heart
Thomas Buehler, 57, of Round Lake, Ill., is hopeful he has kicked atrial fibrillation (AFib) for life. He hasn’t had a recurrence since his AFib ablation* procedure more than a year ago, and his electrophysiologist, Andrea Natale, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.H.R.S., shares his optimism. “Although we can never tell a patient to forget about it completely,” says Dr. Natale, “in general when people do well beyond one year, the chance of a recurrence later in life is very small.”
The most common form of irregular heartbeat, AFib affects more than 20 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of stroke among people over age 65. A treatment called AFib ablation passes energy through a thin wire catheter placed inside the heart to disrupt specific tissue identified as a trigger. The CARTO® 3 System, the most advanced 3-D imaging technology from Biosense Webster, Inc., helps electrophysiologists perform AFib ablation with a high degree of accuracy.
“There is a very fine line between doing the right thing for the patient and taking a chance of a complication,” says Dr. Natale. “The CARTO® 3 System shows you, in real time, exactly where you are. It allows you to create a virtual geometry of the heart, to do the procedure very accurately.”
For seven years prior to his procedure, Tom suffered frequent AFib flare-ups that lasted anywhere from two to eight hours. “It was depressing,” he says, recalling the extreme fatigue that came with them. Recently retired, he loves taking long walks and is enjoying living life again. “All that anxiety and stress is gone. My life has changed completely.”
*Thermcool® Navigation Catheters are approved for drug refractory recurrent symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation when used with Carto® Systems (excluding Navistar® RMT Thermcool® Catheter).