Alcohol Ablation anyone ??

An interesting report in the UK press this morning :-

Medics in the Bristol Hear Institute have saved a patient's life by killing off part of his heart with neat alcohol rather than using the usual burning technique.

The 77 yr old patient had a life-threatening ventricular tachycardia after having suffered a heart attack. Usual procedures were unable to be performed so they introduced neat alcohol along a catheter from the patient's groin. This killed the area of the heart muscle causing the problem allowing the heart's rhythm to return to normal.

Isn't this a tale which fill us all with Christmas cheer ! I now look forward to 2013 with greater confidence !

Cheers

Ian

11 Comments

I like it

by ElectricFrank - 2012-12-24 08:12:31

I'll take mine over ice. One problem though. At the next checkup the pacer will report that you were paced above the legal limit.

cheers (hic)

frank

Whoops

by IAN MC - 2012-12-24 10:12:58

Guess what that word "Hear" really should have been. A prize of a bottle of neat alcohol for the first correct reply !

Ian

IAN MC.............

by Tattoo Man - 2012-12-24 12:12:42

............................Make mine a Double !!...have a great Christmas dear friend. My best to you and yours...and indeed to all out there in Pacemaker Land

Tattoo Man

Sounds interesting - but...

by donr - 2012-12-26 05:12:20

...how much neat alky did it take - grain alcohol, I hope. Methyl might have been a bit dangerous.

What are the dangers of a bolus of neat alcohol in the blood stream? I hope they did not use enough to cause intoxication, or even alcohol poisoning.

How on earth did they come up w/ that idea? You can spill the stuff on your hand & it is not a tissue killer - why was it for heart muscle/tissue?

Don

Hi Don

by IAN MC - 2012-12-26 09:12:11

Yes it was ethyl alcohol which they used , the same stuff that is in your bourbon ,beer, wine and gin

For the sake of brevity I didn't mention that the neat alcohol was actually injected into the heart tissue which the had identified as causing the arrhythmia ; this apparently induced a controllable heart attack.

I am sure you are right there must be intrinsic risks in the procedure but he would have died otherwise apparently

This further newspaper excerpt clarifies things a little :-

Cheers

Ian

...................................................................
Health news
Doctors have saved a patient's life by killing off part of his heart with neat alcohol.
Medics used the rare treatment to induce a controlled heart attack.

Cardiologist Dr Tom Johnson said his patient Ronald Aldom would never have left the Bristol Heart Institute if his condition could not been treated.

The 77-year-old was suffering from a life threatening heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia (VT) - which occurred as a result of a previous heart attack.

A team of surgeons tried to treat the condition using standard procedures but were unable to safely perform them.

The team decided to treat Aldom, from Portishead near Bristol, with "ethanol ablation".

The treatment has only been conducted a handful of times in the UK to treat VT, Johnson said.

The procedure involves passing a catheter to the heart from the groin which identifies which part of the heart the dangerous rhythms are coming from.

A tiny balloon is then blown up in the heart artery supplying that area and a small amount of absolute alcohol is injected into the artery to produce a small controlled heart attack.

This kills the area of the heart muscle causing the problem allowing the heart's rhythm to return to normal.

Aldom said he was admitted to hospital after his implantable defibrillator (ICD) gave him a "thunderstorm of shocks".

Don part 2

by IAN MC - 2012-12-26 09:12:20

I think your point re alcohol being a tissue killer or not is well made. I can only assume from the accounts that it is the induced heart attack which causes the necrosis of the rogue heart cells. What do you think ?

Ian

Controlled hear attack

by donr - 2012-12-26 09:12:33

Ian - that all makes sense, thanks for the elaboration. MOF, it sounds like it might be a decent alternative to some more ablations that are tough to do & risky.

Thanks.

Don

Tattoo Man

by IAN MC - 2012-12-26 12:12:29

You are absolutely right..it warmed the cockles of my hear

Ian

IAN.......

by Tattoo Man - 2012-12-26 12:12:42


.........My very dear friend. IAN,..does it not, truly warm the cockles of ones heart to find out that ground breaking cardiac procedures have taken place in , a, no less august place than the Bristol Hear Institute.

That such an Institute exists is, in itself, remarkable and, no less interesting is the fact that all those, intent on increasing knowledge on heart issues that work there are all, totally stone deaf.

Picture the scene :

The Patient lies on the Op Table.

Around are the assembled, highly skilled doctors and theatre staff.......remember ,..ground breaking stuff,...silence...

NURSE..SCALPEL..SWAB..METAL THING..SCOOPY THING !!!!!!!!

Yup,..this the 'Ground Breaking'..Bristol Hear Institute

Tattoo Man

FRANK....CAN YOU HEAR THIS...WILL REPEAT IF NECCESARY ?

What's dat you say Tattoo Man?

by ElectricFrank - 2012-12-27 01:12:33

So here's question: Can I hear my heart when it is in total arrest? And can it hear me when I read it it's rights?

frank

Frank........

by Tattoo Man - 2012-12-30 02:12:53


.............sorry, Old Chap....I didnt quite catch that last comment...!

You know you're wired when...

You forecast electrical storms better than the weather network.

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