Dr. Nicholas Pegge : Cardiologist

• DR PEGGE: RESUME
• APPOINTMENTS
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• Symptoms
  • Chest pain: is it angina?
  • Breathlessness
  • Palpitations, arrhythmias and blackout
  • Heart Murmur
• Conditions
  • Coronary artery disease: angina and heart attack
  • Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy
  • Heart Valvular Disease
  • Arrhythmias
  • Hypertension
  • Cholesterol and other risk factor management
• Investigations
  • ECG and heart rhythm monitoring
  • Echocardiography
  • Exercise treadmill testing
  • Cardiac MRI, CT and other scans of the heart
  • Cardiac catheterisation: coronary angiography
  • Electrophysiology investigations
• Treatments
  • Drug treatment for heart disease
  • Percutaneous coronary intervention: angioplasty and stents
  • Coronary artery bypass grafting
  • Valve replacement
  • Pacemakers, Defibrillators
  • Cardioversion and Ablation

These are treatments for arrhythmias.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial flutter can be reverted to normal or sinus rhythm in many patients by careful application of a synchronised electrical shock across the chest under a short-acting general anaesthetic - cardioversion. This procedure is undertaken on appropriate patients who have been treated with warfarin to thin the blood adequately for a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks, to reduce the chance of clots from the heart causing a stroke. Dr Pegge's patients are regularly treated with cardioversion in the catheter lab at Worthing Hospital, as day case patients.

Ablation treatment for AF is suitable for some patients with AF which is not permanent, but is recurrent. AF ablation is a developing technology, and a signbificant proportion of patients may need more than one procedure.

Ablation for SVT is generally more straightforward than ablation for AF, with a high initial success rate. Ablation for VT is rarely required, and patient selection is important. Dr Pegge refers patients who may benefit from ablation to consultant colleagues who specialise in this procedure, which can be undertaken in Brighton or centres in London.