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Recommended Facilities for Arrhythmia Evaluation and Ablation?

Hi,

I would be interested in hearing about any personal experiences, opinions or information you may have, (either pro, con or indifferent) in regards to arrhythmia and/or ablation treatment at any of the following facilities:

-- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN;
-- Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St. Davids Hospital, Austin, TX
-- University of Michigan Heart Center, Ann Arbor. MI
-- University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
-- Baylor Heart Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
-- Duke Heart Center at Duke University in Raliegh-Durham, NC

Or any other recommendations you may have to make...?

Thank you very much!

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Avatar universal
Thanks for that! You are one of my "inspirations" -- I noted in other posts that you had really taken the time to find the right specialist for your case and had such excellent results. That has encouraged me to do the same, which makes me feel more positive about the whole process and less "pushed" into it all.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for sharing that particular experience! It reinforces my own impression of U of M based on some limited exposure I had recently. I actually scheduled an ablation there since I have family living in the area and because U of M was one of the many facilities recommended by my GP. I ended up NOT having an EPS and ablation at U of M because they were "so busy" they didn't call me back -- despite over 2 months of requests and follow-up I made.

Because they were busy and my schedule was tight, they didn't schedule me for a pre-ablation clinic visit, exam or testing. Given the lack of clinic appointment visit, I requested, and was assured repeatedly, that I would get an opportunity to speak to the doctor over the phone, or via the internet, as an alternative to the clinic visit, before I flew in for the procedure. I never did get that chance because they always had an excuse as to why I had not heard from anyone there whenever I called to ask about my "phone consult". In the end, they expected me just to show up one morning for the ablation without ever even having spoken to the Electrophysiologist or having been examined by him!!

While I know they have an excellent reputation and many patients would have been perfectly comfortable in those circumstances, I was not comfortable with that approach. I would rather go someplace with an excellent reputation for both technical skill in the procedure AND individualized patient care.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The most important thing to look into is the EP, not the facility in my opinion. The EP is the one doing the procedure. It took me 2 years of researching and meeting the top EP's before I decided who was going to do my ablation. I firmly believe the better the EP the better the outcome. Good Luck!! Wishing you well, and wishing you enough...
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Avatar universal
Thank you all VERY much for taking the time to share that information with me -- I really appreciate it!

I have put this off, and put this off (for over 30 years, so far) as I tracked technological improvements in ablation protocols and followed the research and statistics. My years of watching and researching really reinforced to me that the individual specialist, the particular facility and the type of technique used, combined with appropriate patient selection, all make a big difference not only in success and complication rates, but in patient experiences. Now that I have decided to go for it (recent technological innovations are amazing!) I'm trying to get a feel for patient experiences with various specialists and facilities so your feedback is very helpful to me!
Helpful - 0
267401 tn?1251852496
I have a FIL that had stents put in at U of M - they are so extremely busy that my impression of his experiences was that patients were like livestock being moved through the system - there wasn't any consistent contact with any one doctor, the post-op explanations seemed rushed and lacking detail, and sometimes there was miscommunication between what was supposed to happen and what happened.

The end results seemed satisfactory, but I woudln't call his recommendation a glowing one.
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Avatar universal
For a-fib ablation, when I did all my research, the top place to go is Austin, Tx. That is where Natale is most of the time. He also goes to San Fran, but I do not know how often. Then the next place I would consider is Univ of Penn. Dr. Natale and Dr. Marchlinski at Penn were considered the top in the field. I also hear Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fl is really good also.
Helpful - 0
187666 tn?1331173345
Sorry, had all mine done at Oregon Health and Science Univ. I'm not so sure the facility is as important as the cardio you have. Mine is/was excellent. I don't see him any more but his gentleness, concern and patience was the best.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had a successful ablation for AVNRT in Aug. 2008 at The Boston Medical Center in Boston, MA.  I had a very positive experience there.  Good luck!
Helpful - 0
942410 tn?1274047074
CMCA (Cardiovascular MedicineCardiac Arrthymias Palo Alto California. I'm on my way there in 2 weeks,
Helpful - 0
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