40 Years Ago, a UCSF Doctor Pioneered Catheter Ablation—and Transformed Heart Care
Dr. Melvin Scheinman: 40th Anniversary of Catheter Ablation
In 1981, Dr. Melvin Scheinman performed the first catheter ablation in a human, threading a catheter through a vein to short-circuit a life-threatening arrhythmia without open-heart surgery. The technique, born from years of animal experiments and a desperate patient's consent, has since revolutionized electrophysiology, curing millions worldwide. Now, Scheinman reflects on the field's evolution—from primitive shocks to radiofrequency and genetic therapies—and looks ahead to gene-based cures.
“What I did was a very primitive first step,” said Dr. Scheinman.
- mikestew
Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome, yup, that's me. It killed a college ball player about twenty years ago, killed a high school player just a few years ago:
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/community-aims-raise-a...
I was about 40 years old, and would have tachycardia under a very specific set of circumstances. As in, 30 minutes after exercise, heart rate was still at 140bpm. One stress test later, it was off to get that ablation.
My wife calls it "heart surgery", and I guess technically it is. It's about as easy a "surgery" as you're going to get: lie on a table, get the catheter, half hour later you're done. Stay overnight to make sure you don't bleed out from the catheter site, back home like nothing happened.
If it is suggested to you to get this done, do it, it is super-easy as far as invasive procedures go, and it could save your life. 20 years post-surgery, and I still run ultramarathon trail races, and haven't had a problem since.
- albriorix
This procedure changed my life. I had two radio frequency ablations in Calgary in the mid 2000s when I was 16 to cure PSVT. They did an electrophysiology study during the first surgery to determine it was dual AV node syndrome, which was one of the best case scenarios. If I had been born a few decades earlier this would have required open heart surgery. The crazy thing about this surgery was that I only had to lie flat for a few days and rest for a week before going back to playing football. No scars, no side-effects.
An interesting side note is that I was awake and high on valium for both surgeries. I remember them inducing the tachycardia with adrenalin and some stimulation during the first surgery and saying "yup there it is" out loud.
- mbStavola
Hey, I had this done!
As far as surgeries go, this one is easy as hell on your body even if it's performed on your God damn heart! Genuinely life changing and haven't had a real issue in the decade since (occasional flutters are annoying, but expected). Sure as hell beats taking daily meds and an annual-ish episode which results in you getting pumped full of adenosine.