Webcast on atrial fibrillation treatment to be broadcast live from MRH
| Date Posted: 1/25/2010
Webcast on atrial fibrillation treatment to be broadcast live from MRH
January 25, 2010
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 Mark Landers, M.D. |
PINEHURST – A landmark treatment for long-standing atrial fibrillation will be the focus of a live webcast from the Reid Heart Center at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital on Thursday, Feb. 4, beginning at 5 p.m.
To view a video of a Convergent Procedure with live narration and discussion led by cardiothoracic surgeon Andy C. Kiser, M.D., and electrophysiologist Mark Landers, M.D., log onto www.orlive.com/fhc/convergent.
The Convergent Procedure treats atrial fibrillation (afib) by combining the expertise of a cardiothoracic surgeon with that of an electrophysiologist (a cardiologist who specializes in the electrical activities of the heart). Dr. Kiser pioneered the beating-heart, off-bypass surgical solution to atrial fibrillation that he now performs simultaneously with an electrophysiologist who addresses the afib impulses in the heart’s interior.
“I do the surface, and the electrophysiologist does the inside,” says Dr. Kiser. “We look for areas that are problems, we test for problems, and then we go back and do more. The Convergent Procedure is essentially a merger of our two techniques.”
In January 2009, Dr. Kiser and Dr. Landers assembled an international team of surgeons and cardiologists in Krakow, Poland, to perform the first Convergent Procedure. Shortly afterward, they collaborated on the first minimally invasive Convergent Procedure done in the United States at Moore Regional Hospital.
A second electrophysiologist, Ker Boyce, M.D., has since joined the Convergent Procedure team at Moore Regional, where more than 30 procedures have been done in the past year. When performed minimally invasively, the Convergent Procedure means less pain, a shorter hospital stay and a greater overall chance for success than other surgical afib treatments.
The rapid, uncoordinated beating of the two upper chambers of the heart, atrial fibrillation is the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance, affecting an estimated five million people. In some cases, patients with afib are severely debilitated by weakness, shortness of breath or pain. In other cases, patients have no symptoms at all.
For more information on the Convergent Procedure webcast from FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, call (800) 213-3284.
