New treatment for AFib patients shows less tissue damage and improved outcomes, offered first at AdventHealth

Patients with the most common type of heart arrhythmia have a promising new treatment option available only in Central Florida at the AdventHealth Heart, Lung and Vascular Institute. The Pulse Field Ablation (PFA) procedure is for atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients and is designed to help them maintain a normal rhythm. This spring, AdventHealth led the inaugural Pulse Field Ablation (PFA) procedure in Central Florida and other patients have followed with the same success.

“The procedure was quick, and the recovery was fast,” said Kroy Crofoot who underwent the PFA procedure at AdventHealth Orlando in July. “I went in at 9 am, went home by 4 pm and was walking by the end of the day.”

Crofoot, who is a local furniture store owner, says he has more energy now than before the PFA procedure and he was back at work the next day, but with lifting restrictions.

“PFA is a targeted treatment that’s a safer, more efficient approach than traditional methods like radiofrequency ablation that uses heat. Heat can inadvertently damage surrounding tissues,” said Dr. Naushad Shaik, electrophysiologist and EP medical director at the AdventHealth Heart, Lung and Vascular Institute. “Our patients are learning about this new treatment and asking for it - and it has improved outcomes.”

PFA works by delivering short-duration electrical pulses to the heart tissue. The energy from the pulses kills the cells in only the cardiac tissue causing the irregular heart rate and rhythm, therefore restoring the heart to a more normal condition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AFib is responsible for more than 454,000 hospitalizations and roughly 158,000 deaths each year in the U.S. In addition, the CDC forecasts 12.1 million people in the United States will have AFib by 2030.

The 67-year-old credits his son, Ivan, for nudging him to get checked out by a cardiologist.

“I thought I would get a clean bill of health, instead I was told I had AFib,” said Crofoot.

He also gives high marks to Dr. Shaik and his team for helping him stay active at his work, moving furniture, and in his off time, playing tennis and pickleball.

“This is a minimally invasive procedure done with tiny tubes placed in through the groin and into your heart and is performed in under an hour,” Shaik recently told Healthy Connections. “Another benefit of the PFA procedure is patients are able to come off of some of their medications.”

At his next check-up appointment, Crofoot says he hopes to be able to stop taking his blood thinner medication. For more information on the new PFA procedure, call Call407-931-5040.