Key points from today’s guests:

Daryle, first pulsed field ablation patient at Olathe Campus

• He had a racing heart and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation or AFib – when the heart’s upper chambers beat out of sync with the lower chambers.
• After a few days in the hospital, the AFib went away.
• A year later, his checkup found the issue again and he saw a specialist his wife works with.
• He was in AFib again and his specialist told him he was the perfect candidate for a new procedure called pulsed field ablation.
• Daryle was confident in his doctor and decided to do the procedure – the first in Olathe to do it.
• He is healthy today, feels much better now, and is doing the things he wants to do like trout fishing.

Susan, Daryle’s wife, works with Dr. Ravi Yarlagadda

• She is normally in the room with procedures with Dr. Yarlagadda, so when her husband was undergoing his procedure, she had to wait in the waiting room.
• Working around people with AFib, she said it can be a monster because many people don’t even know they have it.
• Susan said that if you know something is wrong, get it checked out because it is not worth the risk.

Dr. Ravi Yarlagadda, electrophysiologist; chief of medicine, Olathe Campus, The University of Kansas Health System

• There are multiple causes for AFib. The most common causes are usually hypertension, untreated sleep apnea, and family history of atrial fibrillation.
• In more than 90 percent of the patients, those impulses are actually coming from the left upper chamber of the heart.
• Patients with persistent AFib may feel more tired or short of breath, but may not have palpitations, so there would be no other detectible symptoms.
• Wearable devices can help monitor heart rhythm and help diagnose arrhythmias.
• Pulsed field ablation includes mapping and tagging of electrical signals in the heart. It is safer and has a higher success rate compared to previous methods.
• The chances of AFib coming back after a successful ablation are about 20 percent.
• It is important to offer complex procedures at multiple health system locations to reach rural patients.

Friday, Nov. 22 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Thanksgiving table talk could lead to heated conversations given the recent election. Hear advice from psychologists for helping keep the peace and protect your well-being this holiday season.

ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is with Microsoft Teams:

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 235 659 792 451
Passcode: 6CSfGE

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

+1 913-318-8863,566341546#   United States, Kansas City

TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI

Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital

YouTube.com/kuhospital

Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.