Looking for a Physician

  First of all I am glad this site is available.  I am a 49 Yr. Old firefighter and I am still working though it is very difficult.  I am Suffering from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation,(this means the A-Fib. comes and goes every 5 or 6 days).  Since this started on Feb. 7, 1995 my stamina and strength have gone down and now it is to the point where almost every time I have to work hard at a fire I go into Atrial Fibrillation and it takes between 8 and 10 hours for it to convert to normal sinus rythum.  I have had every test and have tried every medication with no solution.  I have heard that the ablation proceedure (may) cure this problem.  If this is true I would be interested in further investigation.  My cardiologist does not perform this proceedure and does not know of any that do.  I would appreciate the answers to the following guestions.
  1.   Does anyone know of a specialist in the Houston or Dallas Texas area?
  2.   If I have this proceedure what are the possible complications?
  3.   What is the recovery time before I can go back to work?
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Dear  Rodney,
Topic Area: Palpitation
Thank you for your question.  Atrial fibrillation is a difficult condition to control and you have my commendation for continuing on in your job.  The treatment you are referring to is called the "Maze procedure".  What this procedure does is create multiple blockages in the atrium (the site of atrial fibrillation) and creates a "maze" that channels the rhythm down a normal pathway.  This can be done either surgically (by opening the chest, cutting up the atrium and then sewing it back together) or with a catheter through the groin and putting multiple linear burns in the atrium.  There are benefits and disadvantages to both methods.  
The surgical method has a higher success rate but involves opening up the chest.  It is not usually done for lone atrial fibrillation.  It was developed by Dr. J Cox at the University of Washington in St. Louis and I would recommend him if you are interested in this approach.  The catheter procedure is less invasive but has a lower success rate.  It is not done at many centers and is a long procedure lasting up to 8 hours.   Only certain types of atrial fibrillation respond to these procedures and the success rate is higher with some types than others.  
Q: Does anyone know of a specialist in the Houston or Dallas Texas area?
A: I don