CINCINNATI (April 5, 2023) – Atrial fibrillation, often called AFib, continues to be a growing problem in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 12 million people in the U.S. will have AFib by the year 2030. Now, surgeons at The Christ Hospital Health Network have a new way to help those with persistent AFib by doing two procedures for better outcomes.
The convergent procedure is made up of a minimally invasive surgical ablation and a catheter ablation (performed after a surgical ablation). The catheter ablation is a procedure that goes through the groin to treat heart tissue that is causing rapid and irregular heartbeats. While this procedure alone helps many AFib patients, those who have longstanding AFib (for more than a year), do not see as successful outcomes.
“The convergent procedure provides better outcomes for patients suffering with longstanding AFib,” said J. Michael Smith, MD, Medical Director of the Cardiovascular and Mitral Valve Surgery Program and Medical Director of Cardiovascular Surgical Research for The Carl and Edyth Lindner Research Center at The Christ Hospital Health Network. “Having this option for patients is a major step in the right direction for a shorter recovery time. This is the latest tool in our already rich program.”
In a thoracoscopic ablation, a surgeon makes small incision under the breastbone from the right-hand side to perform the partial ablation. The lung will be deflated to gain minimal invasive access. Once that is done, an ablation device will be used on the cardiac tissue. The team at The Christ Hospital Health Network can reach a part of the heart where a cardiologist can’t reach with just a catheter ablation procedure.
Both Dr. Smith and Geoffrey Answini, MD, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Christ Hospital Health Network, have already performed this type of ablation more than ten times for heart patients.
"At The Christ Hospital Health Network, we continue to expand and look for the latest technology and procedures to get the help for our heart patients,” said Dr. Answini. “People don't have to leave Cincinnati to get world-class cardiac surgical care. We do the most ablations in the region and we hope this will expand the amount of people we can help on the road to recovery.”
For more information on heart services at The Christ Hospital Health Network, click here.
About The Christ Hospital Health Network
The Christ Hospital Health Network consists of an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn, a remote hospital location in Liberty Township, five ambulatory outpatient centers and dozens of medical offices throughout the region. For more than 130 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves. Made up for more than 1,300 physicians and more than 6,500 team members, our mission is to improve the health of our community by providing exceptional outcomes in an affordable way. The Network was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region, named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals list in 2023. It is also a Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award recipient, which recognizes top-performing healthcare organizations that achieve the 95th percentile or above of performance in patient experience.