Arctic Front Cryoballoon Service Optimisation in the COVID Era

Personal History

Professor Ross Jacob Hunter was born in 1977 in the UK. He is a Consultant Cardiologist specialising in arrhythmia management and the clinical lead for AF services at The Barts Heart Centre.³

Academic History

Prof Hunter earned his BSc in Cardiovascular Medicine from Imperial College London in 1998. In 2001, he was awarded an MBBS with a distinction from Guy’s Kings & St Thomas and his MRCP from the Royal College of Physicians in 2004.²

In 2013, he completed his PhD from the Queen Mary University of London in the field of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology with a thesis focused on catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation. That year, he was also awarded a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) from the London Deanery for Postgraduate Medical Education.²

Prof Hunter is active in clinical research. He runs clinical trials in cardiac electrophysiology, particularly related to catheter ablation of AF, frequently collaborating with other scientists in a variety of disciplines. His current research investigates the mechanisms and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.¹

Career Overview

Prof Hunter is the atrial fibrillation lead at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the largest cardiac centre in Europe. He trains doctors to perform the catheter ablation procedure and implant pacemakers. He is also the lead for the Barts arrhythmia courses and supervises PhD students.¹ Prof Hunter is also a Reader at the Queen Mary University of London.^{1, 2}

His private practice is at The London AF Centre (London Bridge Hospital), a leading private centre focusing on AF management.2

His focus is almost exclusively on heart rhythm, performing over 200 complex ablation procedures per year, using the full range of equipment such as 3D mapping systems, cryoballoons and robotics.¹

Prof Hunter is Editor-in-Chief of Cardiac Rhythm News, a journal bringing the latest scientific advances and industry news to clinicians. He is also a reviewer for Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology; Journal of the American Heart Association and the British Medical Journal.¹

He is a Member of the British Heart Rhythm Society and a Fellow of The European Society of Cardiology. Prof Hunter has published widely on atrial fibrillation and other areas of heart rhythm management in peer-reviewed journals and has edited six books.¹

Career Timeline

• 2005 - 2013: Cardiology Registrar, NHS
• 2013 - Present: Reader Cardiac Electrophysiology, Queen Mary, University of London
• 2013 - Present: Editor in Chief, Cardiac Rhythm News
• 2013 - Present: Consultant Cardiologist, Electrophysiologist and AF Lead, The Barts Heart Centre
• 2014 - Present: Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist, The London Bridge Hospital

Areas of Speciality

• Electrophysiology
• Complex Devices
• Arrhythmia
• Atrial Fibrillation

Recognitions

• 2017: Arrhythmia Alliance Team of the Year Award, Arrhythmia Alliance 
• 2016: Pioneers in Health Care Award, AF Association
• 2011: Finalist & Runner up for Young Investigator of the Year Award in both UK and USA, Heart Rhythm Society (USA) and British Heart Rhythm Society (BHRS)

Sources

1. https://onewelbeck.com/cardiology/doctors/professor-ross-hunter/
2. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-hunter-69080122/ 
3. https://bartshealthprivatecare.com/ross-hunter 

Annemiek Janssen is a nurse and Dr Jonas De Jong is an electrophysiologist at OLVG Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Dr De Jong and Annemiek have a particularly very efficient Cryoballoon ablation workflow, with limited staff support, and consistently short lab occupancy times. The team is also rigorous with outcome data collection and recently began implementing cryoballoon ablation day case. Annemiek has over 30 years of experience as a nurse and Dr De Jong has performed >400 Cryoballoon procedures and is the founder of ECGpedia and the Cardionetworks Foundation.

Annemiek Janssen is a nurse and Dr Jonas De Jong is an electrophysiologist at OLVG Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Dr De Jong and Annemiek have a particularly very efficient Cryoballoon ablation workflow, with limited staff support, and consistently short lab occupancy times. The team is also rigorous with outcome data collection and recently began implementing cryoballoon ablation day case. Annemiek has over 30 years of experience as a nurse and Dr De Jong has performed >400 Cryoballoon procedures and is the founder of ECGpedia and the Cardionetworks Foundation.

Dr Joachim R Ehrlich, MD is Head of Cardiology and Electrophysiology at St Josefs-Hospital, Wiesbaden, Germany. 

Dr Ehrlich completed his internship and residency training in medicine in 2001 at Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany and gained a fellowship in basic cardiac electrophysiology at the Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Canada. Following a fellowship in cardiology at Goethe-University, Dr Ehrlich gained German Cardiac Society certifications in interventional cardiology and electrophysiology in 2014. 

Dr Ehrlich has specific scientific expertise in basic cardiac electrophysiology, with a focus on atrial fibrillation research. He is also highly experienced in pharmacological management of cardiac arrhythmias, oral anticoagulation, cardiac resynchronisation therapy, genetically determined cardiac arrhythmia syndromes and risk stratification for sudden cardiac death.

Dr Alexandre Ouss is an electrophysiologist at Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven, NL. Dr Ouss played an instrumental role in identifying and implementing efforts to optimise the Cryoballoon ablation workflow and to support the adoption of a day case approach at Catharina Hospital.

Today, the Catharina Hospital team has consistently short lab occupancy times per Cryoballoon procedure and a very collaborative team dynamic. Dr Ouss and the rest of the EP team are very diligent about outcome data collection for each AF ablation procedure as well. The decision to implement day case was only made after thoroughly reviewing their complication data.

Click here to watch the Catharina Hospital EP team explain how and why they improved the efficiency of their Cryoballoon procedures. You will also find the AFPO flyer for Catharina Hospital below.

Dr Aaisha Opel is a Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist at the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Opel is the primary author for the Cryoballoon day case study. You can click here to learn about findings from the study.

Dr Patrick Heck is a Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist and Clinical Lead for Cardiac Rhythm Management at the Royal Papworth Hospital. Dr Heck has extensive experience with cryoballoon ablation day case and was involved in a recently published AF ablation day case study.