Ascension Sacred Heart Bay celebrates 500th Watchman procedures for atrial fibrillation patients

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -For people living with an irregular heartbeat, the threat of a stroke is a constant worry. A life-saving procedure at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay has helped hundreds of patients reclaim their peace of mind.

Patients like Bruce Kress.

“I don’t know where I would be now if I didn’t have it done,” said Kress, “I don’t know what my outcome would have been.”

The Watchman procedure reduces stroke risk for patients like Kress with atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.

“When the heart is beating in irregular fashion, there is a higher risk of developing a clot,” said Dr. Samir Patel, an interventional cardiologist at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay. “If a clot develops in one of the heart chambers, that clot can get dislodged and go up to the brain and cause a stroke.”

Clot risk is typically treated with blood thinners, but not every patient can take the medication, and it has some serious side effects.

“As you know, as patients become more senior, more advanced in their age, they have complications,” said Dr. Nghia Hoang, a cardiac electrophysiologist at the hospital. “Some people develop GI bleeds, some people develop Parkinson’s, and not steady in their feet, and then they can fall.”

The Watchman procedure offers an alternative; it’s inserted into the left atrial appendage of the heart, where doctors say 90 percent of stroke-causing clots originate.

“It occludes the little chamber, the left atrial appendage,” said Dr. Hoang, “the blood now cannot get into the appendage anymore, then it cannot create a clot.”

Ascension Sacred Heart Bay has offered the procedure for five years, and now doctors are celebrating treating 500 patients.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Dr. Patel, “it’s great to offer another treatment option for patients because in the past, historically, when patients has atrial fibrillation, and we were not able to safely give them blood thinners, then the best we can do is aspirin. And that does come with a higher risk of stroke.”

The procedure is bringing peace of mind and renewed energy to patients like Kress.

“I’m able to walk more without sounding like I’m going to fall over, I’ve got more energy, I can breathe better, my heart rate is great,” Kress said.

Doctors at Ascension say the procedure has a high success rate, and patients typically leave the same day they come in.

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