Visualization System Assists Cardiac Ablation

A new visualization system enables physicians to perform less-invasive cardiac surgical ablation procedures.

The FlexView system enables physicians to perform minimally invasive thoracoscopic cardiac ablation procedures with a surgical ablation probe in a closed chest environment, with direct visualization of the procedure at all times.

The microwave surgical ablation can be performed in combination with valve or coronary artery bypass surgeries or in minimally invasive, stand-alone procedures. The new system is the first system designed specifically for less-invasive, unilateral procedures, and patients who undergo the procedure should recover faster and with less pain than with procedures that require rib spreading. Using specialized routing and retrieval tools, the system may reduce overall procedure time by 30 minutes or more.

"The future of cardiac surgical ablation will rest with minimally invasive approaches, commented Adam Saltman, M.D., of Maimonides Medical Center (Brooklyn, NY, USA). "The FlexView System greatly simplifies the endoscopic approach and will encourage a much broader adoption of the procedure. It is a significant step forward.”

The FlexView system was developed by Boston Scientific (Natick, MA, USA).

Most often, cardiac ablation is used to treat rapid heartbeats that begin in the upper chambers (atria) of the heart. As a group, these are known as supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs). Less frequently, ablation can treat heart-rhythm disorders that begin in the ventricles. The most common, ventricular tachycardia, may also be the most dangerous type of arrhythmia because it can cause sudden cardiac death. For patients at risk for sudden cardiac death, ablation often is used along with an implantable cardioverter device (ICD). The ablation decreases the frequency of abnormal heart rhythms in the ventricles and therefore reduces the number of ICD shocks a patient may experience.



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