Bay Medical Center-Sacred Heart is giving Northwest Florida cardiac patients new ways to treat common heart conditions. Cryoablation and, separately, the insertion in the heart of a tiny wireless pacemaker called Micra were introduced to the Panama City hospital last year by Dr. Nghia Hoang, a cardiac electrophysiologist who recently moved to Panama City from Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania.
Cryoablation is a minimally invasive catheter approach that uses a small balloon full of liquid nitrogen to freeze tissue in the heart’s upper chambers to block electrical signals that trigger erratic heart rhythms.
“We create a controlled scar so the atrial fibrillation cannot spread out freely to the rest of the heart,” says Hoang. Atrial fibrillation can lead to stroke, heart attack or heart failure.
Hoang also is board certified to perform surgery that involves insertion of the Micra pacemaker, a wireless device about the size of a large vitamin capsule, making it the world’s smallest pacemaker.
“Unlike pacemakers that are placed in the chest with leads running to the heart, the Micra is implanted directly into the heart through a vein in the leg — no leads needed,” says Hoang.
The device is used for patients who have a standard heart rhythm that is slower than the typical 60 beats per minute, a condition known as bradycardia.
“With Micra there are no chest incisions or scarring, so patients often have quicker recoveries and fewer complications compared to implanting more traditional pacemakers,” he adds.
Read more in Florida Trend's February issue.
Select from the following options:
* offer valid for new subscribers only