How to make Natale appointment

Hi,
My afib events have progressed from three-five per year to twelve in the last few months after a hospital stay in the Fall for a lengthy attack. I think that I should nip this progressive downturn in the bud. The EP I met with once in late Fall was unimpressive. Actually, when I asked him about his ablation success rate, he replied that he had only lost one patient. That was it for me!
I see that Dr. Natale is associated with St. Lukes in NYC. I am a country girl and not city savvy. How does one go about getting an appointment with Dr. Natale, and what are the logistics in doing so? Do I go through my cardiologist or phone on my own, etc. I know from postings that there is a long wait for the initial appointment to then scheduling an ablation.
Thank you for your input.
Madeleine

Hi Nathalie,

I've been very impressed with Dr Schweikert at Heart Rhythm Associates in Akron. He trained under Dr. Nathalie , I believe at Cleveland Clinic.
If that would be closer for you , the access is very easy. I had an appt. during "Rush" hour last Wednesday and had an easy time getting in and out.. Dr Nathalie is in Austin, which is a great town to visit if you're up for a road trip.

John

Hi Madeleine,

Welcome to our little oasis in the AFIB universe, Dr Natale at present is not doing ablations in NYC though he did periodically for a CUV e month period last year. That may change again, but in the meantime your best bets are in Austin at Texas Cardiac Arrhythma at St David's Medical Center http://www.tcainstitute.com/Home.aspx?ucm=true]Dr Natale in Austin at St Davids[/url] which is his home base and where he does ablations every 2.5 to 3 weeks per month, you can call their main scheduling number at 512-807-3150 or Alex at 512-544-8714.

Or you can contact his San Francisco office at California Pacific Medical Center where he practices one week per month at http://www.sutterpacific.org/services/cardiacep.html]Dr Natale in San Francisco - CPMC[/url] by calling Sandy at 415-923-6503.

He also does ablations a little less frequently at as Scripps in La Jolla near San Diego, though unless you have family or friends right there to stay with your best bet is likely Austin and San Fran in that order coming from the east coast from what I presume by your reference to St Luke's in NYC.
St David's is the premier ablation center in the world with only Bordeaux in the same general ballpark in terms of number of ablations done and in. ER active research, but CPMC is really on par as an ablation center in terms of quality as Dr an has been there for many years and the whole team their, as in Austin, is a well-oiled machine.

In Austin they average between 13 to 15 ablations a day between Dr Natale and the other 10 very skilled EPs there where he services as director and mentor. That is a remarkable volume of experience second to none in the world.

In any event, don't assume the wait is too long. Making the choice for ablationist will have the single biggest impact on your future relationship and life with AFIB of any other decision you will make. I agree too that since you are progressing as much as you indicate, and with familiarity with this site I presume you are aware of and have made a good effort at http://www.afibbers.org/resources/strategy.pdf]The Strategy[/url] supplement program for critical electrolyte deficiency repletion?

If not, while setting up your appointment with Dr Natale, then please do yourself a favor and make that a very high priority to give this protocol your best effort for the next several months. It won't hurt and it very well my help a lot and while at your stage of progression an expert ablation is very often also needed, I highly recommend including this protocol as part of your everyday life going forward and it will help keep ectopics lower in most cases as well even after a successful ablation process.