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Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."

Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI 

“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP. 

Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017

“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”

Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD  Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD


Doctors & patients are saying about 'Beat Your A-Fib'...


"If I had [your book] 10 years ago, it would have saved me 8 years of hell.”

Roy Salmon, Patient, A-Fib Free,
Adelaide, Australia

"This book is incredibly complete and easy-to-understand for anybody. I certainly recommend it for patients who want to know more about atrial fibrillation than what they will learn from doctors...."

Pierre Jaïs, M.D. Professor of Cardiology, Haut-Lévêque Hospital, Bordeaux, France

"Dear Steve, I saw a patient this morning with your book [in hand] and highlights throughout. She loves it and finds it very useful to help her in dealing with atrial fibrillation."

Dr. Wilber Su,
Cavanaugh Heart Center, 
Phoenix, AZ

"...masterful. You managed to combine an encyclopedic compilation of information with the simplicity of presentation that enhances the delivery of the information to the reader. This is not an easy thing to do, but you have been very, very successful at it."

Ira David Levin, heart patient, 
Rome, Italy

"Within the pages of Beat Your A-Fib, Dr. Steve Ryan, PhD, provides a comprehensive guide for persons seeking to find a cure for their Atrial Fibrillation."

Walter Kerwin, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA


 FAQs A-Fib Ablations: Mitral Valve 

Catheter Ablation

Catheter Ablation

“I have a defective Mitral Valve. Is it causing my A-Fib? Should I have my Mitral Valve fixed first before I have a PVA?”

Mitral Valve problems seem to be related to A-Fib, possibly because the extra strain a defective Mitral Valve puts on the heart may cause stretching and put extra pressure on the Pulmonary Vein openings where most A-Fib originates. However, fixing your defective Mitral Valve isn’t a guarantee of curing A-Fib. Once the A-Fib hot spots in your heart have been activated, they may continue firing after your Mitral Valve is fixed.

If you have to have open heart surgery to fix your Mitral Valve, you may want to consider going to a medical center that can fix both your Mitral Valve and do a Cox Maze operation at the same time. But bear in mind the Cox Maze operation and its less invasive versions are pretty hard on the heart and body. (For more, see our Treatments page about Maze and Mini-Maze surgeries.)

If you want to get a PVA to get rid of your A-Fib, you may want to do it before you replace your Mitral Valve. Some doctors will not do a PVA if you have an artificial Mitral Valve, because of the risk of blood clots and the risk of damaging the artificial mitral valve.

Return to FAQ Catheter Ablations
Last updated: Monday, June 18, 2018

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