Posted by Sarah on February 12, 2003 at 22:27:01:
In Reply to: Re: home again posted by Mike Ware on February 12, 2003 at 18:09:31:
Mike, I don't know if Pam had the regular ablation procedure through the groin/arm/or neck, but pericarditis would make sense if she had that "Percutaneous Epicardial Approach" for SVT's, which, I think Jack and Carl both explained to me was an "umbrella term" for several Afib-type rhythms.
Natale and Schweikert use this approach with patients that fail regular ablations,for SVT's and ventricular arrhythmias.
It's described as inserting a needle below the sternum, guided toward and through the pericardial space, and then vascular sheath's are inserted over the wire, for mapping and RF energy. It's really good when the target areas of "miss-fireing" nerves originate on the outside of the heart (epicardium) (where the coronary arteries are) and ablation from the inside of the heart (endocardium) can't penetrate deep enough to reach it. I would think there is more risk of pericardial infection since they have to penetrate the pericardial sac.
Aparently the patients they've used this method on had 95% cure rate, with zero complications. I'm sure there's a lot more to it. 'Twas just a thought.....