Collateral Damage: A Patient, a New Procedure and the Learning Curve

Respiratory therapy note:

15:59 Pt was extubated… Was extremely anxious and was extubated per order before mechanic or CPAP gas was up… Acute confusion and anxiety increasing…

3. Hugh Calkins, Heart 2001;85:594-600 May, 2001
Hugh G. Calkins, MD says in 2001 that “…As the range of ablatable arrhythmias has broadened, the ablation procedures have, in some cases, become more technically challenging. In such cases visualization of the catheter tip in relation to the cardiac anatomy is crucial,”3

* Also note here that in 2001, Calkins writes the following:

“The technique, safety, and efficacy of catheter ablation for treatment of atrial fibrillation remains an area of active research. Although the potential for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation has been demonstrated, further research is needed to approach the remarkably high safety, efficacy and ultimately clinical acceptance which has been seen with catheter ablations of most other types of supraventricular arrhythmias.”

He is in the market for research subjects.

Among these sources of outcome data, it is well recognized that data derived from large prospective randomized clinical trials most accurately reflect the outcomes that can be anticipated when a procedure is performed in clinical practice. Unfortunately, as of the time this document was prepared, there have been no large randomized multicenter clinical trials performed to determine the safety and efficacy of catheter ablation of AF.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/558137_3
2007