Dr. Natale - How long?

I plan on calling his office this week to confirm but has anyone made a recent appointment with Dr Natale and if so, how long does it take to see him for the initial consult? How much longer after that can you typically get an ablation scheduled? Thank you!

- Bill

I did a single consult/ablation with him last year. Consultation and testing done the first day. Ablation the second. I contacted his office around April and had my ablation in June.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2019 08:19PM by rocketritch.

Rocktritch's experience jives with others I know of who have recently scheduled appointments with him. If your circumstances are appropriate, you may be able to do a consult and ablation in a single trip.

Wow, that’s much quicker than I had anticipated. I was thinking 6-12 months. So you didn’t have to make separate trips for the consult and procedure? That would make things much more convenient as I live up in NH. I’ve already setup a consult with Dr. Moussa Mansour for July at Massachusetts General. He is also very well known and performs 12 procedures per week, 8 of them afib ablations. I guess I’ll need to digest this some more before making my decision. Thanks to everyone for the quick reply!

I contacted Dr. Natale’s office April 8th for a 1-trip visit, sent in all the required information & got approved by April 23rd, but still have not been confirmed for a date. I was told it may be August but now they say it’s looking even further out.

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Madeline
I contacted Dr. Natale’s office April 8th for a 1-trip visit, sent in all the required information & got approved by April 23rd, but still have not been confirmed for a date. I was told it may be August but now they say it’s looking even further out.

Make sure you get put on their cancellation list if you are able to go on shorter notice.

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rocketritch

I contacted Dr. Natale’s office April 8th for a 1-trip visit, sent in all the required information & got approved by April 23rd, but still have not been confirmed for a date. I was told it may be August but now they say it’s looking even further out.

Make sure you get put on their cancellation list if you are able to go on shorter notice.

That would depend on how much the notice usually is. I think I would need at least a month to book flights and a place to stay.

Hi Madeline,
You can get flights and hotels in Austin much faster than that currently.

I’m going to Austin and St Davids this coming Saturday, June 1 for a meeting and a couple days there at St Davids and just bought my ticket and booked a near by hotel last Thursday less than a week ago.

Hang in there, it’s not a big rush for you and it is absolutely worth whatever the wait is to put your heart in the hands of the Maestro.

Best wishes,
Shannon

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Shannon
Hi Madeline,
You can get flights and hotels in Austin much faster than that currently.

I’m going to Austin and St Davids this coming Saturday, June 1 for a meeting and a couple days there at St Davids and just bought my ticket and booked a near by hotel last Thursday less than a week ago.

Hang in there, it’s not a big rush for you and it is absolutely worth whatever the wait is to put your heart in the hands of the Maestro.

Best wishes,
Shannon

This is true. Also, by being put on the cancellation list I don't think you would loose your current spot or spot you would be given. You could ask to verify that.

You are right Rich, once Madeline has an assigned date it’s hers.

Shannon

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Shannon
You are right Rich, once Madeline has an assigned date it’s hers.

Shannon

I do not have an assigned date yet. I have only been approved and been told that the estimate was August which lately was said to be possibly September but no specific date for me yet. So if I put myself on the cancellation list and they give me a date and it’s too quick, am I further back in the queue for my original to be scheduled date.? I have to arrange for pet sitter for three pets which will require a lot of instruction. I have to make arrangements with my daughter who lives out of town to be able to get off work and come here possibly.

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Madeline
So if I put myself on the cancellation list and they give me a date and it’s too quick, am I further back in the queue for my original to be scheduled date.?

No, being on the cancellation list just means they'll offer you a date that opens up. You won't be penalized if it doesn't work for you. They'll just give it to someone else.

If it makes you feel better and I got in to see Dr Natale faster than I could see my own EP who had been my doc for years!!!!

My experience.....

Had my first meeting with Natale in November 2010. For me it was an exploratory meeting....at the time I was very adamant against any heart procedures. Natale recommended that I get on his schedule even though I was not committed to an ablation. That way if I did opt for the ablation I would be on the schedule. So I attempted to do so.....completely scheduled throughl May 2011, however they put me on their list. I got a call late December that there was a cancellation the first week of January. I still had not come to a decision on whether to have the procedure so I declined. I was told that when they established his schedule starting in June I get a firm date.

Ironically, I did decide to have an alblation and in late January was contacted that there was a cancellation for March and I went forward with the procedure.

For me the rest has been history.


Steve.

I just spoke with a contact at Dr. Natale’s office and was told an 80-85% “success rate” for an afib ablation. However, they were unable to clarify what defines a success. (I.e., no afib burden for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc) Can someone please tell me what constitutes a success in these numbers? I realize everyone is different but what can one reasonably expect from a Natale ablation? Thank you.

Natale and his group (and all honest, competent EPs) define success as freedom from all atrial tachyarrhythmias at one year without the use of antiarrhythmic drugs.

In practice, if you're free of afib, flutter, etc. at the one year mark you're probably good forever. Late recurrences can occur, but they're unusual and generally very easy to eliminate with a short touch-up procedure. Recurrences that occur years later probably represent progression of the disease rather than failure of the ablation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2019 01:22AM by Carey.

I believe that this *80-85% success rate is for simple paroxysmal, uncomplicated Afib. The likelyhood of success can vary
substantially depending on other conditions of your heart and the particular level of Afib you are in. For instance, my case was
going in with (recent) persistent Afib and concomitant "severely" enlarged LA. In this case the prognosis was for barely 50%
"success", and that even after perhaps needing a second ablation round.

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IDbill
I believe that this *80-85% success rate is for simple paroxysmal, uncomplicated Afib.

Actually, I don't think it is. I think it's Natale's overall success rate with all types of afib. But before you quote me on that let me dig up a paper I've got somewhere written by Natale and his group about their success rates with patients who had failed multiple prior ablations. I need to see if it's been published so I can quote it.