WINFIELD, Ill., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Central DuPage Hospital (Winfield, IL) recently performed another breakthrough in heart surgery -- twice. The procedure, Mini-Maze, corrects atrial fibrillation (AFib or AF), a common heart rhythm abnormality affecting 2.2 million Americans, for whom no reasonable cure existed.
"For the first time we have a truly minimally invasive procedure that can permanently eliminate AF, return patients to their normal rhythm and significantly reduce their risk of stroke," says Marc Gerdisch, MD, director of cardiothoracic surgery at Central DuPage Hospital, who last year was the first heart surgeon in Illinois to perform coronary artery bypass surgery using minimally invasive robotics.
The procedure does not require use of the heart/lung machine or a division or spreading of the ribs, but is performed using a thorascope threaded through tiny incisions between the ribs. "This is a substantial advancement and the only truly minimally invasive approach to surgically solve AFib," explains Dr. Gerdisch. "Patients go home within 24 hours and won't experience the long, difficult recovery of traditional open chest surgery."
The first patient underwent the mini-Maze in January, 2005 and is now enjoying an active lifestyle -- free of blood thinners and other medication previously used to treat his AF. The second Mini-Maze patient, 55-year-old Ed Edwards (May 2005) went back to work two days after surgery, was driving and gardening within one week and is currently being weaned off the AFib medications.
"I feel much more at ease and more energized. I have moved from being treated for AFib symptoms to being cured of AFib," says Edwards, an active father and avid golfer.
The Mini-Maze procedure uses new technology to interrupt the path of the aberrant electrical impulses. Heart surgeons guide a thoracoscope (small fiber optic camera) and a tool created by Atri-Cure, Inc. to grasp the heart's atrium, encircling the top of the chamber. The Atri-Cure device uses Radiofrequency (RF) technology to destroy tissue where the irregular impulse starts. The damaged tissue can no longer conduct electrical impulses and the rest of the chamber resumes a normal rhythm. Randall Wolf, MD, from University Hospital in Cincinnati pioneered the Mini-Maze procedure and personally instructed Dr. Gerdisch.
The first Mini-Maze procedures in Illinois were performed at CDH. Worldwide, more than 375 procedures have been performed; experience to date indicates that AF is eliminated in more than 85% of patients. The Mini Maze is available in many US cities, including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Tampa, Dallas, Milwaukee, Washington DC, Portland and Cincinnati.
"Until now, the options available to AF patients were unattractive at best: a lifetime of anticoagulant therapy, a permanent pacemaker or a difficult, invasive operation," Dr. Gerdisch said. "The Mini-Maze offers patients an optimal choice."
Central DuPage Hospital, a 361-bed facility in Winfield, Illinois, is a leading center for surgical innovations. Visit http://www.cdh.org ; CDH Public Relations 630-614-4913.
Central DuPage HospitalCONTACT: CDH Public Relations, +1-630-614-4913
Web site: http://www.cdh.org/
