St George’s trail-blazes life-changing procedure for common heart condition
St George’s Hospital is one of the first in the country to pioneer a new way of treating patients with a condition that, if ignored, can be fatal.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm problem1 in the UK that, as well as causing fatigue and dizziness, increases the risk of stroke and heart failure.
Traditional procedures used to treat the condition come with complications which, although uncommon, are potentially serious, including narrowed blood vessels, nerve damage and damage to the food pipe requiring surgery. These also take longer to recover from.
Doctors at St George’s Hospital, however, have been using a new technique called Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA), which uses thousands of electrical pulses every second to silence areas of the heart causing abnormal signals.
The Tooting hospital has treated several hundred patients across South West London and the South East of England through this method under general anaesthetic in the past three years – cutting waiting lists by around 20%.
The 10-Year Health Plan, set out by the Government last week, outlines three shifts to creating an NHS fit for the future, including making better use of technology and focusing on preventing sickness – both of which PFA supports.
PFA is currently only offered by a handful of hospitals in the country. But today, guidance from NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has recommended it for wider use, based on research and evidence collected by healthcare providers including St George’s. This means more patients across the country could eventually benefit.
Dr Richard Jennings, Group Chief Medical Officer for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group (gesh), said: “Using this safer and more effective treatment is hugely beneficial to our patients, and it also reduces demand on our other services by preventing complications that may arise from this condition further down the line.
“Embracing cutting-edge technology is central to the future of the NHS, and innovations like Pulsed Field Ablation ultimately help us to treat more people and improve patient care.”
Dr Anthony Li, a consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist at St George’s, said: “We’re proud to be leading the way in this field and contributing to vital research.
“PFA is much better for our patients than other methods – it’s faster, it’s safer, and the recovery is quicker. And of course, this has an impact on driving down our waiting lists, ensuring other people get earlier access to much-needed treatments and care.”
Among the patients to be treated by Dr Li is Elizabeth Lacey, 69, from Hampshire. She was first diagnosed with atrial fibrillation following a life-threatening brain haemorrhage during the Queen’s Jubilee in 2022, as she was celebrating at a party in a field.
Earlier this year she underwent PFA treatment with the FARAPULSE™ Pulsed Field Ablation System – a technology developed by Boston Scientific.
Prior to the procedure, Elizabeth struggled with low energy, fatigue, and breathlessness – but has now been able to enjoy life again, from dancing at her daughter’s wedding, to going swimming on holiday and tending to her garden.
“I had the utmost confidence in Dr Li making this a success, and felt like I was in extremely good hands,” she said.
“I don’t remember how long the procedure was, obviously. But I’ve been told it’s between an hour and two hours. When I woke up, I cried. Not from pain, but just relief.
“What struck me most of all was how incredible the technology is, that they can go in through your groin and get to your heart with such accuracy, using pulses instead of heat or freezing. The team was fantastic. You could tell they knew exactly what they were doing.
“I thought to myself: ‘this is the future.’ And I was very lucky to be a part of it.
“I cannot praise St George’s Hospital and the technology used in my treatment highly enough. To go from dancing in a field to nearly dying, to dancing again at my daughter’s wedding, that’s full circle. The technology is incredible. The care was amazing. I’m just so grateful.”
