Posted by Jack Drum on December 26, 2001 at 22:02:46:
I have been mailing Dr. Gillinov since he posted on the AF board. Here is a E-mail he sent me and a article on the CC web site. I am not sure how good this will be, but it is worth keeping up with.
"Thanks for the note. I was not aware of the message board."
"At The Cleveland Clinic, we are using a variety of new energy sources to create the lesion set of the Maze procedure. These new techniques permit a faster operation with less risk of bleeding. I have performed 12 cases using microwave, and about 30 using radiofrequency energy. The results are good."
"Most importantly, in the near future, we should be able to do the procedure through small incisions, with or without thoracoscopic ports. This will expand the benefit to a large group of AF patients."
Sincerely,
A. Marc Gillinov, M.D.
The Cleveland Clinic FoundationHERE IS THE ARTICLE FROM THE CC WEB SITE.
Current Releases: December 4, 2001
CLEVELAND CLINIC FIRST IN REGION WITH NEW TREATMENT FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATIONDevice Uses Microwave Energy To Control Erratic Heartbeat
A Cleveland Clinic heart surgeon is the first in the region to treat atrial fibrillation with a new device that uses microwave radiation to restore patients’ normal heartbeats.A. Marc Gillinov, M.D., recently used the innovative microwave technology to treat several patients diagnosed with severe atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation affects more than 2.2 million people in the United States, and more than 160,000 new cases of atrial fibrillation are diagnosed each year.
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm that allows blood clots to form within the heart’s atria, or upper chambers. People with atrial fibrillation are at increased risk for stroke and are twice as likely to die.
Dr. Gillinov said the new treatment is a boon for people with atrial fibrillation whose condition has not been alleviated by medication or electrical cardioversion, a treatment that involves applying shocks to patients’ chests to restore normal heart rhythm.
"This treatment represents a good alternative for people with atrial fibrillation. It has a high degree of success and has very little risk," Dr. Gillinov said.
The microwave technology, developed by Silicon Valley-based AFx inc. and approved for use in May by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, permits a variation on procedures and surgeries that treat atrial fibrillation by rerouting the heart’s electrical signals and restoring normal heart rhythm.
Here is how it works: A surgeon uses a foot-long wand connected to a generator that creates microwaves. The wand has a tiny microwave antenna that measures 0.5 mm in diameter, approximately the size of a pencil lead. The antenna serves as a surgical probe to create several lesions on the heart. The lesions interrupt the existing abnormal heart rhythm and restore the normal heartbeat.
Dr. Gillinov said the microwave treatment’s success rate is comparable to the success rate of the Maze procedure, a surgery in which lesions are cut into the heart to reroute the errant electrical signals. The microwave treatment now is completed along with major heart surgery such as coronary bypass grafts and valve surgery that require patients to be placed on heart-lung machines. Cleveland Clinic heart surgeons are researching techniques that would allow use of minimally invasive surgery along with the microwave technology to complete the treatment.
"We are now getting a better understanding of the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation that will help us design more precise therapies that are less invasive," Dr. Gillinov said.
©Cleveland Clinic 12/2001
- Another piece to the puzzel Jack Drum 19:33:43 1/02/2002 (0)
- More information Jack Drum 09:53:01 12/28/2001 (0)