Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disorder in the world. It is estimated that 1 million people in the UK have this condition and it is the leading cause of stroke in the country. In some patients it may also cause heart failure.
AF results from abnormal electrical impulses occurring in the top chambers of the heart, the atria, which can lead to rapid and uncontrolled beating. This causes irregular palpitations, breathlessness, chest pain light-headedness and tiredness. AF increases with age and is very frequently associated with having high blood pressure but it can occur in patients with no other medical problems.
Treatment for AF will be necessary if no underlying medical problem can be found. There are medications that can control AF by restoring a normal heart rhythm and easing symptoms, however these do not always work terribly well and often cause unpleasant side-effects.
In recent times a newer method has been used to restore the heart rhythm called catheter ablation. In this procedure a catheter (a long thin wire) is passed into the chambers of the heart via a large blood vessel in a leg. The tip of the catheter is then useddeliver radiofrequency energythat destroys tiny sections of heart tissue that are the source of the abnormal electrical impulses. However, the heart often repairs the damage and this limits the success of this technique to about 50 per cent of patients meaning that repeat procedures are often required.
In the last few years a new ablation technique known as “laser balloon ablation” has been pioneered thatallows greater accuracy during surgery and improved success rates.The new laser balloon procedure involves inserting catheters via the top of the leg and the end of the catheter has a balloon that is inflated and put into the pulmonary vein. The balloon has a camera incorporated in the centre. The balloon creates a ‘blood free zone’ and the camera allows doctors to see inside thebeatingheart making it possible for specific areas to be targeted by laser.The improved accuracy during surgery that this new technique allows provides improved success rates compared to previous ablation techniques.
This new procedure was pioneered in the UK at The Heart Hospital in London by Consultant Cardiologist Dr Oliver Segal. He states: “The laser balloon is an incredibly exciting technology for treating patients with paroxysmal (or intermittent) atrial fibrillation. It appears to be significantly better than existing technology in achieving pulmonary vein isolation after just one attempt. This means patients will be much less likely to need two ablation procedures and therefore much less likely to develop a complication from ablation, which can include stroke, cardiac perforation, emergency surgery and on very rare occasions, death.”
