Dr Idris Harding performs London Bridge Hospital’s first Pulsed Field Ablation procedure

Dr Idris Harding’s cath lab team for London Bridge Hospital’s first PFA ablation procedure

In a major development for our patients, Dr Idris Harding has recently performed HCA London Bridge Hospital’s first Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) to treat atrial fibrillation. PFA is the latest of a range of ablation techniques available to Kent and London Cardiology patients for the management of atrial fibrillation, and Dr Harding is thrilled to have been the first consultant to use the technique at this major London cardiac centre.

Clinical trials show that PFA is a potentially safe and effective way to treat atrial fibrillation, particularly paroxysmal AF, where patient suffer intermittent arrhythmia symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness and breathlessness. Success rates for a single procedure appear to be similar to other AF ablation techniques such as cryo-ablation and radiofrequency ablation. Most excitingly, the safety profile of the procedure seems dramatically improved compared to some other techniques.

AF ablation has achieved reliably high success rates for perhaps the last 15 years or so, but until now the safety profile has prevented it being offered widely as a first-line treatment. For example, guidance from the UK’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) currently states that AF ablation should only be offered after drug therapy has failed to control symptoms of AF.

The new PFA procedure may be both quicker and safer than other techniques, changing the risk-benefit balance and making it feasible to offer AF ablation to a larger number of patients earlier on in their disease.