Posted by Bill Kilgore on January 23, 2003 at 11:49:31:
In Reply to: Interesting Post on WebMd posted by Jack Drum on January 19, 2003 at 10:59:25:
Jack,
This post you have shared with us is very interesting. I would like to know more about how soon there could be a robotically assisted, percutaneous maze procedure. Does anyone know? If something like a robotically assisted, percutaneous Maze with the same success rate and even lower complication rate as the open-chest maze is possible within a few years (much wishful thinking), I would wait for it. My condition might allow me to wait. My doctors recommend the PVI, and I have tentatively concluded that Dr. Jie Cheng in Houston is the one I would have perform it, if I chose to try it again. Jie has a much lower complication rate in the 200-250 PVI's he has performed. His experience numbers are 0 for strokes and 0 for pulmonary vein stenosis. He ablates just outside the pulmonary vein openings, which can account for his lack of complications of that sort.
Bill Kilgore