(Story courtesy Lindsey Rosenlieb, Piedmont Augusta)
Physicians with Piedmont Heart Institute are now offering a new ablation procedure for patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib.
The Pulse field ablation procedure uses “non-thermal electric fields to ablate heart tissue and avoid damage to surrounding structures.” Piedmont electrophysiology physicians in Atlanta, Athens and Augusta are now offering PFA as a treatment option and it will soon be offered in the Macon market, as well, according to a news release from Piedmont Augusta.
“AFib is a serious condition that patients need to be monitoring and treating,” said Dr. Sandeep Goyal, an electrophysiologist with Piedmont Heart Institute in Atlanta. “Piedmont Heart providers develop individualized treatment plans for our patients and now being able to offer pulse field ablation gives patients another tool that will improve their health and overall quality of life.”
AFib is an abnormal heart rhythm that is irregular and fast and is the most common type of arrhythmia. AFib increases the risk of stroke, reduces the heart’s efficiency and lowers the quality of life for most people, the release continued. Data shows that patients diagnosed with AFib are at about five times more risk of stroke. While AFib symptoms can come and go, the most common symptoms are irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue and feeling light-headed.
Cardiac ablation is a common procedure that has traditionally used heat/cold to target areas of the heart associated with abnormal rhythms and create tiny scars in tissue which disrupt the irregular heartbeat and reestablish the patient’s normal heart rhythm. Pulse field ablation uses electrical pulses to target the pulmonary veins instead of heat/cold to create the scars. This reduces the chance of damage to nearby structures such as esophagus or nerves from the heat.
“Anytime we have an opportunity to learn something new or use a new technique that is going to be a better, safer option for our patients, we want to be leading the way and bringing that to our patients,” said Dr. David Clark, an electrophysiologist with Piedmont Heart Institute in Augusta.
The FARAPULSE PFW System was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2024 after achieving consistently positive results in clinical trials.
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I had AFib for 5days in row out of 7days.I called Athens Piedmont heart institute to tell them of this and one month later after all this I finilly got someone who answers the phone to tell them what happened. And after all this they said the doctor wanted to see me.My AFib happened n May of this year and they set me up a appointment on Sept. the 3rd. I feel as if my doctor doesn’t want to treat me or the people answering to phone didn’t tell him. Why would they wait 4 and months to see me, Ai fell like they care.i plan on contacting Dr. Grow or the administrator to see why they wanted to wait so long. It took me one month to get them to call me back, so I call my PCP doctor and they had me to come them as soon as I could.They cared more than Dr. Heaithcock. Because I have yet to talk to him.And I am still having AFIB, still.I hope this new picture will help me.