Hi, On August 03, I will reach my 15 year anniversary of a Wolf minimaze in Harrisburg, PA. The summary is that I remain free of atrial fib and thank God for this gift of health. My struggle with atrial fib was devastating. And, the surgery was hard. But I would do it again this minute to get free of the disease. I'm less tuned in these days, so I don't know how much catheter aby russdward357 - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Shannon, Thanks for the response. One point of clarification, my procedure was performed by Dr. Mubashir Mumtaz in Harrisburg, PA, not Dr. Wolf. It was his first such procedure and it was proctored by Dr. William Schneeberger, an associate of Dr. Wolf. Between these two doctors, I do believe that I got some of the best care available at the time, for which I feel very fortunate. All your poby russdward357 - AFIBBERS FORUM
Duke, It is mostly just a pulmonary vein ablation, performed from the outside rather than the inside of the heart. The surgeon enters your chest from the side, deflates the lung, then uses a special RF clamp to burn a scar tissue barrier around the pulmonary veins. This process occurs on both sides of the chest. There are also a few other things done, like the attempted ablation of nearby &quoby russdward357 - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi, It has been a while since I've been here. I still see lots of familiar names and I say God bless you for keeping up this valuable resource. I am now 8 years on from a Wolf mini-maze and still free of atrial fib. All these years later, I know clearly what an important decision it was and how fortunate I was to have the opportunity. If you want to know more, you can read the whole stby russdward357 - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike, I haven't seen any supportive comments about minimaze procedures so far, so let me pitch in my two cents. I do generally agree with what many have said, especially Hans' reminder that nothing is guaranteed. I had the Wolf variety of the minimaze in August, 2006, after years of daily struggles with highly-symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fib. I have been free of atrial fib sinceby russdward357 - AFIBBERS FORUM