A-Fib (atrial fibrillation) is a heart rhythm problem that causes the heart's chambers to beat out of sync. It increases the risk of heart failure and stroke and is becoming more common impacting between 2 and 5 million Americans. (many may have it and not even realize it!)
Docs treat a-fib with medication and something called catheter ablation but when those fail, doctors at Porter have another solution: this breakthrough called hybrid ablation. It is performed both inside and outside the heart but is minimally invasive. You don't have to open a patient up for this. Instead docs use keyhole sized incisions between the ribs. The result is less blood loss, shorter recovery time and lower risk of infection than traditional open heart maze surgery. (Some patients are out of the hospital in a matter of days!)
The FDA approved procedure destroys the tissue that is causing the irregular beats and has an 85% success rate for these patients.