Barts AF

Early AF recurrences can still cause symptoms which should not be ignored When is the blanking period? The blanking period is the initial phase after an AF ablation procedure. During this time window, arrhythmias like AF may recur, but they can have different implications on the long-term outcome than recurrences

The PREDIMAR study results and their impact on AFIB patients It can sometimes feel superficial as a doctor advocating for lifestyle changes in the cardiology clinic. Often done at the end of the consultation as icing dressing on the cake salad. One reason may be that a good diet and

A short post today as I am in transit to 'Heart Rhythm Society 2024'. This is the US-based annual conference for Healthcare Professionals working and researching in the field of Arrhythmias including Atrial Fibrillation. Last year we presented our findings from mapping the electrical health of the heart

"Even though your AF ablation was successful and we have not seen any AF in the last 12 months you should continue your blood thinner for the rest of your life…" When I started my Electrophysiology training I remember thinking this had to be a defensive medicine/medico-legal

We need more treatment options for AF. Despite the effectiveness of anti-arrhythmic drugs and catheter ablation, we still need additional treatment options for patients. A wider choice of treatment strategies would allow us to match the right treatment to the right patient and AF profile.  And so it was refreshing

How can an irregular heart rhythm cause chest pain? And can it lead to a heart attack?  Chest pain is a concerning symptom to a Cardiologist. Guidelines from the NHS in the UK and the American Heart Association advise the same thing- call 999🇬🇧 (or 911🇺🇸) if you are concerned

I analysed the 2023 Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines only a few months ago, especially how they strengthened their recommendations for invasive treatment of AF in heart failure patients. And hot on its heels, we have another big drop this week, as the 2024 Catheter Ablation for AF Guidelines has just been

Studies of the effects of diet on heart disease are challenging to conduct.  Trying to compare health outcomes in vegans versus vegetarians versus meat-eaters is challenging because of all the other associations with these behaviours that you can’t balance. So it isn’t clear if you are measuring the

Stroke is the sharp end of the ‘complication spear’ when it comes to Atrial Fibrillation. The two are intimately connected with 25% of strokes attributable to AF. A stroke is a sudden cerebrovascular (=brain blood vessel) blockage but cerebrovascular blockage can also happen gradually. This is the underlying pathology in

The heart is a three-dimensional structure. The left atrium (the top left chamber of the heart that is targeted during catheter ablation) is only a few millimetres thick. However, in some areas, it can be thicker- up to a centimetre thick. Catheter ablation involves applying energy through heating or cooling

“My AF only started after I got Covid. I was fine before that.” This has not been an uncommon statement from patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) when they first present to Clinic. I haven’t dwelled on it too long- partly because it doesn’t change the subsequent approach to

"The ablation worked but I'm still feeling very brief symptoms that are different from my AF." The primary indication for catheter ablation for Atrial Fibrillation is to improve symptoms from the arrhythmia. The most common symptoms of AF are palpitations and shortness of breath and after

In the era of wearables and heart rate trackers, this phenomenon is being picked up incidentally by patients in the weeks or months after successful catheter ablation for their Atrial Fibrillation. So before you let anyone convince you that you’re just being paranoid, read on… How high is too

A few years ago, in the clinic, I was explaining the details of a Catheter Ablation procedure to a patient. He was troubled by his Atrial Fibrillation and keen to have something done. I explained that the thin catheters are passed up from the groin to the heart and the

Rivaroxaban, Apixaban, Edoxaban or Dabigatran - can we do better?  The problem with the latest generation of blood thinners- the “direct oral anticoagulants” named above is that they’re so good at doing what we want them to (prevent strokes) we can forget that 1 in 10 patients can still

It has been 25 years since the seminal work from Michel Haïssaguerre showed where Atrial Fibrillation originates from in the heart. It has been cited by other Scientific papers more than 10,000 times. However, the progress in AF research in 2023 continued at an impressive pace. And importantly the

Several trials have explored this- but do we have enough evidence to say yes? People with AF have an increased risk of death Atrial Fibrillation is a chronic disease. Patients live with it in the same way patients live with Diabetes or Coronary Disease. But do people who develop AF

The 2023 AF guidelines bring a lot of change to patients with AF. None more so than those with Heart Failure. I’ve had to come back and write this post. For the last 2 months I’ve been buried deep under scans, ablation results and statistics analysing the results

Yes we can! It's a 'yes we can' day. Your Apple Watch can record ECGs and so inferring that it could be used to monitor your Atrial Fibrillation after ablation may seem like a reasonable assumption to make. However, the burden of proof remains- to scientifically

The NHS Commisioning policy for AF ablation has been approved. We will go through the pertinent changes.  The evaluation process  NHS England evaluates commissioning decisions for procedures like AF ablation through a multi-stage process. This involves a selected expert committee made up of doctors, patients and other stakeholders assessing the

Could the weight loss wonderdrug, Semaglutide (trade name Ozempic or Wegovy) be a treatment for AF? The Step-HFPEF trial One of my favourite 'non-AF' trials presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress last month was 'Step-HFpEF'. Like Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Failure with a Preserved Ejection

This weekend was the European Society of Cardiology Congress - the largest conference of Cardiologists in the World. We presented our work characterising differences between asymptomatic versus symptomatic atrial fibrillation- something we have analysed to try and understand what gives some patients terrible symptoms during atrial fibrillation, but others nothing