The Surgeon

Heart surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that by adding a simple 10-20 second step to an operative procedure they achieved a significant improvement in the outcome for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).
Reporting in the April issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the surgeons describe an enhancement to the Cox-Maze procedure, a surgical procedure that redirects wayward electrical impulses causing AF by creating precisely placed scars, or ablations, in the heart muscle. The Cox-Maze procedure is highly effective, offering the best long-term cure rate for persistent atrial fibrillation.
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Dr. Robert Poston is a pioneer in the use of robotics for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He recently joined Boston Medical Center (BMC) as chief of cardiac surgery. With his arrival, BMC has become one of only one of 9 hospitals across the country, and the only hospital in Boston, to offer robot-assisted minimally invasive coronary artery bypass, the most advanced treatment available for coronary artery disease (the most common form of heart disease – 16 million Americans have – and the leading cause of death – 1 million/year – in the U.S.)
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