Arrhythmia Center

The FirstHealth Arrhythmia Center offers comprehensive treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation (an abnormal heart rhythm). Atrial fibrillation used to be considered to be a harmless annoyance but is now recognized as a dangerous condition that can double the risk of death. Patients with atrial fibrillation are five to seven times more likely to have a stroke and the disease may also cause congestive heart failure and uncomfortable symptoms related to a rapid heart rate.

An estimated 2.2 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, although many believe that number should be revised upward. If current trends continue, a threefold increase in the condition is predicted over the next five decades, with as many as 16 million Americans affected by 2050.

The FirstHealth Arrhythmia Center offers the new Ex-Maze ablation, which uses heat generated by radio frequency to create a comprehensive lesion pattern that corrects the electrical impulses in the heart muscle. Andy C. Kiser, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital is one of the developers of both the device and the procedure. Dr. Kiser also serves medical director for the FirstHealth Arrhythmia Center. 

On January 23, 2009, the first patient in the United States underwent the Convergent Ex-Maze procedure, which combined the minimally invasive Ex-Maze procedure and a catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation, at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.

Andy C. Kiser, M.D., and Mark Landers, M.D., a cardiologist specializing in electrophysiology at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, have collaborated in the development of the Convergent Ex-Maze procedure that corrects atrial fibrillation.

Both the Ex-Maze procedure and the percutaneous endocardial catheter ablation have been done numerous times by each physician separately, but until recently never together at the same time.

The union of the Ex-Maze procedure and catheter ablation provides many benefits to the patient including:

• Elimination of chest incisions
• Quicker recovery time
• Shorter hospital stay
• Minimal scarring
• Ablation testing at the time of the Ex-Maze to confirm appropriate treatment endpoint

During the Convergent Ex-Maze procedure the Ex-Maze portion is done through a small incision in the abdomen and the catheter ablation is done with a small catheter in the large vein in the groin.

Click here to see what Ex-maze patients say after having had the treatment.

The FirstHealth Arrhythmia Center is located in the FirstHealth Specialty Centers Building located at 35 Memorial Drive in Pinehurst.

For more information, call (910) 715-1713 or toll-free (877) 715-4111.