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Show OREM TIMES Thursday, August 2007 Utah surgeon performs new procedure for heart disease Page 16 Nathan Johnson It is estimated that by the year 2010 there will ye 20 million mil-lion Americans suffering from rial fibrillation. It's a heart disease that can easily kill if it oes untreated In Utah County, however, patients have a very high chain e ol survival, thanks to a very unique set of physicians at Timpanogos Regional Hospital Hos-pital I h I avid Affleck is one of only two surgeons in the state, and one of only about 30 nationwide, na-tionwide, who can perform a relatively new procedure that lias sun ess rales far greater than any other procedure that treats what doctors sometimes refer to as afih. "I le's a real pioneer," said lacquo Br own, T impanogos Regional Hospital spokeswoman spokes-woman Aflleck says that the disease is nearly epidemic The symptoms symp-toms that a patient will experience experi-ence include a racing heart that can beat as much as 300 times a minute. There can also lie complications that lead to stroke and even death. Affleck treats the issue by using a procedure called a mini-maze. "It's such a monumental change in the way you treat afib," he said. To understand why the mini-maze Ls a rising star in the cardiovascular world, it is important to understand the ins and outs of afib, and how it used to be treated. A of I" ti Mi - -t'' T aI 1 ' rtfm anntMmtVti' iiiiiB i ff 1 The disease is a complex one, but the nuts and bolts of it deal with nerve impulses that Improperly trigger the heart. Some of the nerves which control a racing heart can go rogue and start sending commands com-mands that make the heart literally quiver. Because of that, parts of the heart don't have blood to pump while other parts of the heart have blood pooling up, potentially poten-tially creating clots. To cure it, those nerves -the autonomic ganglia which surround the pulmonary vein - need to be silenced. The problem up until now, however, has been that afib has been treated only a couple of ways. Doctors can shock the heart and get it back into rhythm, but that fix often only lasts for a short while, says Affleck. More commonly, it is treated treat-ed by medication - typically blood thinners. Those, however, how-ever, only treat the symptoms and not the problem. And being treated with blood thinners thin-ners can lead to other complications, com-plications, such as extensive internal bleeding. According to Affleck, medication is not the way to go because it does not fix the problem, it only treats the symptoms. This Ls especially dangerous because afib can come and go. Patients may not experience an event for years and go off their medications. In short, the problem just needs to be fixed. The other major option they can choose is to use a catheter- custom stairway elevator allows FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT in the home your choice, removing the physical challenges imposed by stairs. Stairway elevator features include: Battery backup for use during a power failure Frtsv fnlrl-un lonvinn the stnirwiv r.lfinr for iisg hv nthfirs Swivel seat for ease Call loll free 1 - 800 - tfctn Lor 36 V If Thrm ?now Premier Ford SfiA Qp v i A 1400 S. SANDHILL RD. OREM 229 j'tr:a? with lamily Call us today to learn more! iitrtMMitoaw-rMitiiiMiiliiiiiteftifiiiitfii iiumw 4 Dr. David Affleck holds a model heart and an instrument used in in the heurt operating room at Timpanogos Regional Hospital based technique, called a catheter cathe-ter ablation. In that procedure, a cardiologist runs a catheter up the groin and into the inside of the heart. Once inside, the cardiologist will burn parts of the heart in an attempt to cut off those rogue impulses. But the nerves that control the heart aren't inside the heart. They're on the outside. The cath burn often requires three or four tries. Affleck says that the procedure proce-dure that he performs - and teaches to other surgeons around the country - is a much more effective treatment. Instead of going up the groin and burning the inside of the heart, Affleck makes two and safety when getting in and 735 - 0408 the ELEVATOR company. WQEHMiEEffi, 6-15 acre recreational estates underground utilities electric, phone state-of-the-art water system restrictive covenants architectural review committee well-maintained roads year-round access call 801 368 8272 - soldiersummit.com The old Provo Orem Ford guys are ever! Yeppers-, the nld Prnva-Orp.m i? giant showroom, , service oays, l Prcmier employ.ees y and a great attitude, j EXIT 269 - 3600 i Cheaper, Faster, Better Scrapbook pages (ict your digitally created scraphonk pages printed on real photographic paper, any m, with less cost & less hassle than printing on your own primer .. . . .and for those of you who still cut and paste your tradilional scrapbook pages, IT'S I IME TO SHARE, (let copies of your work to share and mends! onolaon small incisions - holes only about an 1 12 inch long under each armpit. Once inside, Affleck uses a camera and a clamp to make very fine, discrete burns on the nerves that are responsible for the arrhythmia. He will then use a small penlike pen-like probe to test individual nerve centers and see if they respond to stimulation. If they do, they are rogue nerves and he can silence them right there with electrodes on his probe. In this manner, the surgeon can actually prove that the nerves responsible for the heart problems are shut off from the rest of the heart. The surgeon actually tests for im out of the chair J, MOUNTAIN ESTATES Qh. David Cunningham Bankers Realty cte'eooe. G ?. e ; Heritage Care Many Levels of ft J- i' 'tm it MARIO RUIZDaily Herald the Mini-Maze heart procedure in Orem. pedance on the heart - much like an electrical engineer would test for in a computer circuit to see if things are firing. fir-ing. They also do one more thing while they are in there, something some-thing that can't be said of the catheter ablation technique. They remove atrial appendages. append-ages. The atrial appendage is the place in the heart that is responsible for the blood clots that are associated with afib. Affleck says they're not need- Get Ready to W . with BERNINA AUGUST 9 mK Aurora 440QE FREE Bernina i ' imm . ; , RCD with Purchase! No Interest, No Payments If Paid Within 12 Months. On Purchases of Bernina Machine andor Software $999 or more s i m k JUS- v.-1 v Mix mnyi r' . okilled INursing Rehabilitation Long Term Care Assisted Living Level 1 Respite Care Hospice Integrated Secured Unit Care to R Vo, ed. By removing them, many of the complications associated with afib are solved. At Timpanogos Hospital, you can also get a full maze, which is much like the mini-maze, but it is far more involved. It requires several more burns and is also an open heart procedure. Each procedure has its risks, and different candidates are better suited to different techniques, but for the most part Affleck says that the traditional tra-ditional method of medicating or cath ablation are just not cutting it. While the maze is a slightly more invasive procedure than a catheter ablation, Affleck boasts success rates in the high 90 percent range. With about 70 mini-mazes under his belt and hundreds of full mazes, Affleck Af-fleck has extreme confidence that his procedure is saving lives and improving quality of life. After a mini-maze surgery, patients are usually home in about two days, and are slowly taken off of their medications as there may still be some residual re-sidual nerve activity for about six weeks. During that time, Affleck has his patients wear a monitor that sends a fax to his office reporting re-porting on the patient's status. "It's all based on safety," he said. - 13, 20071 ( Activa 210 Aug 9-130nly! SAVE 1(T off your purchase of $50 or more! Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 9am-5pm 268 W. Center Provo 374-5520 www.artista.net Center 350 East 300 North American Fork, Utah 84003 801-756-5293 es Needs a;: P- '599 f I 1 G3 IT .1 jpO1 |