HealthBreak | WATCHMAN Implant Device
Atrial Fibrillation is the most common heart arrhythmia and effects the electrical currents of the heart. "Atrial fibrillation (also called A-fib) is a heart condition where the top two chambers just kind of shake," explains Steve Shepro, MCHS PA-C, a physician assistant at the International Heart Institute of Montana. "It can reduce the output of the heart, and also cause clots to form." "Ninety percent of the clots that cause strokes come from a little pocket in the heart called the left atrial appendage (LAA), Steve continues. "If we can block, or pinch that off, and prevent those clots from breaking free and moving to the brain, we can reduce the risk of stroke." At the International Heart Institute of Montana in Missoula, this can be accomplished by implanting the WATCHMAN Implant device. "WATCHMAN is essentially a little umbrella that is deployed into the left atrial appendage - the pocket in the heart where blood clots can form - and is permanently sealed off when heart tissue grows around it," Shepro says. "It's a lifetime treatment." The Missoula heart institute is the only facility in Montana that offers this procedure. To learn more, visit http://montana.providence.org/clinics... or http://ihimontana.org
