Wairarapa farmer Stuart Robbie is medication-free after an ablation procedure that fixed his irregular heart rhythm, called atrial fibrillation, in 2015.
“It’s just like I say – life-changing,” he told 1NEWS.
He’s encouraging others with abnormal heart rhythm symptoms including breathlessness and dizziness to go to their general practitioner and consider ablation.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to go through the experience I did before getting the operation,” he said.
Atrial fibrillation is caused by the heart’s pulmonary veins randomly firing electrical impulses, and if left untreated, can cause heart failure.
An ablation procedure is when the skin tissue around the end of the veins is cauterised to make a scar tissue barrier.
As scar tissue doesn’t conduct electricity, it stops the electrical impulses from getting through and disrupting the heart’s rhythm.
The treatment was the only cure for Mr Robbie, whose heart condition threatened his life on several occasions.
When Mr Robbie’s heart rhythm was irregular, he could only work at around 20 per cent of his normal ability on the farm, he said.
“It’s difficult for families and partners because especially them not knowing, it’s nothing that you can physically see and it can affect their life,” he said.
Other medical interventions, including six cardioversions, medication and a pacemaker, were not effective for Mr Robbie in the long-term.
“Once I was fixing a fence and I was putting the gear in the four wheeler… I didn’t feel too good and then ‘kapow,’’ it (pacemaker) hit me because it’s wired directly into your heart.
“It felt like putting your fingers in the socket of a three point socket, it was unbelievable,” he said.
Mr Robbie had to wait until his heart was strong enough for the ablation procedure.
Wakefield Hospital, a private facility in Wellington, is now using a precise tool during ablation called ‘Surpoint,’ that has a success rate around 90 per cent in patients that had an irregular heart rhythm one year after the procedure.
Without the equipment, the one-year post procedure success rate is around 80 per cent.
The equipment works by showing cardiologists on an imaging screen when the lesion they’ve cauterised is effective so they can move on to another area of tissue.
“It's very comforting as an operator to have a tool that makes it more reliable from a safety perspective and an effectiveness perspective.
“We know with more certainty how long a procedure’s going to take and schedule our day accordingly,” electrophysiologist Dr Matt Webber said.
Dr Matt Webber, and another electrophysiologist Dr Darren Hooks, carry out the procedure at Wakefield Hospital and in the public system, without the new equipment.
“We don’t feel like we’re really meeting the need of people who would stand to benefit from the procedure,” Dr Hooks said.
“We’d also like to see less regional disparity… We know that access to the procedure is highly dependent on where you live.”
Mr Hooks said the issue is exacerbated by an increase in the common condition worldwide, due to an aging population and health conditions that can lead to atrial fibrillation including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
“We’re really only scratching the surface of the need… We would like to see more funding and better access to these procedures,” he said.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the Government department acknowledges access to the procedure is different around the country.
"Via the Cardiac Network and the Cardiac Society, we’re working to ensure equity of access with nationally agreed criteria," the spokesperson said in a statement.
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