Hospital tests experimental device to prevent AFib after heart surgery

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Sarasota Memorial Hospital is participating in a study of an experimental device aimed at preventing atrial fibrillation after heart surgery.

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is one of the most common complications after heart surgery. Nearly half of patients develop the condition.

The device targets the back of the left atrium, near the pulmonary veins, where AFib usually occurs in patients who have not had it before.

“We know that most irregular heart rhythms in patients who’ve not had it before begins in the back of the left atrium, in an area near the pulmonary veins, and then progresses in front of the pulmonary veins,” said Dr. Jeffrey Sell, a cardiac surgeon at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

The device works by blocking irregular heartbeat signals from getting through, similar to what an ablation does.

“If we can block that signal from getting through, which is what an ablation does, we can prevent them from having the totally irregular rhythm and let the main driving force of the rhythm of the heart, which is in the right atrium, continue to dominate,” Sell said.

Current strategies to prevent AFib after surgery include medications, pacing techniques and other interventions, but none have been proven to reliably stop AFib before it starts.