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New Procedure An Option For A-Fib

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2007

BRANDON - Gene Strickland didn't know he had an irregular heartbeat until he took a bullet a few years ago while on duty as an officer with the Tampa Police Department.

Ted Simon, on the other hand, had suffered for years from an irregular heartbeat, passing out at times and prompting doctors to put him on medication that, he says, ended up damaging his lungs.

Both men underwent surgery at Brandon Regional Hospital last year that corrected their irregular heartbeats.

Heart surgeon Michael Cortelli operated on them using a minimally invasive alternative for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, available through the hospital's heart center.

The procedure allows heart surgeons to correct the irregular heartbeat, or A-Fib, through a small incision, eliminating the need for open-heart surgery.

'It saved my life,' said Simon, a 59-year-old Riverview mortgage broker who spends his leisure hours working as an Egypt Temple Shrine clown. 'He did a fabulous job.'

'The irregular heartbeat I'd had for six or seven years caused me pain in my chest, and I sometimes passed out,' he said. 'You could tell something wasn't right.'

A-Fib is an irregular heart rhythm caused by abnormal electrical impulses that begin at the top of the atrium and travel down the upper chambers, or atria. It can be life-threatening because it can lead to congestive heart failure, more serious heart problems and stroke.

Using the new procedure, doctors use a precise instrument that fits around the top of the heart and destroys a small amount of tissue near where the irregular impulses start.

Because the damaged tissue no longer can conduct electrical signals, the atria resume beating normally.

Before the procedure, Simon was put on blood thinners and other medication and ended up in the hospital with hardened lungs, known medically as pulmonary fibrosis. He quit smoking, lost weight and headed for a consultation with Cortelli.

'I was the second guy in Brandon to have it done,' Simon said. He went for his six-month checkup recently, and so far, there are no signs of his previous heart problems.

Medicinal treatment is typically not successful for A-Fib, Cortelli said.

'The advantage of this procedure is that it can actually cure the symptoms,' he said.

A-Fib is typically a disease suffered by older people, but Cortelli said it can affect younger patients, and there are no age limitations on use of the new procedure. Patients can be in and out of the hospital within days and back to work within weeks.

Strickland, 51, of Lithia, said the first time he was told he suffered from A-Fib was when he was shot on the job. He was placed on a heart monitor and told he had an irregular heartbeat.

'Blood thinners weren't a real option,' Strickland said, noting that as a law enforcement officer he would be at constant risk if he were shot or cut.

He learned about the new procedure from his sister-in-law, who works for Cortelli.

'I was back to work in a week' after the surgery, he said. 'I feel great now.'

Three types of patients are eligible for the treatment, Cortelli said.

'There are those that are real symptomatic, even on a good medication regimen,' Cortelli said. 'There are those who can't tolerate the side effects of the medications. And there are those who, for whatever reason, can't be on blood thinners.'

Although Strickland had no symptoms, he was fatigued at times, and it was in his best interest to keep him off of blood thinners, Cortelli said.

Strickland also had his six-month checkup recently, with no signs of A-Fib. Both men will return in another six months for their 12-month checkups.

Cortelli plans to explain the new treatment during community education programs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and from 6 to 7 p.m. Oct. 17 in Brandon Regional Hospital's Classroom B. For information, call 1-888-327-2636.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 657-4532 or at yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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