Watchman Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) closure is a procedure performed to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation who are not a good candidate for long term blood thinners. We have a skilled and dedicated team of physicians who specialize in the minimally invasive Watchman procedure: Dr. Ihab Alomari, Dr. Aseem Desai, Dr. Lynne Hung and Dr. Jay Tiongson.
You can learn more about Watchman at Providence Mission Hospital here.
Dr. Ihab Alomari
Interventional Cardiologist
Medical Director, Structural Heart Program
Dr. Ihab Alomari grew up in Jordan. He is a highly trained interventional cardiologist, specializing in interventional and structural heart disease. Dr. Alomari received his medical degree from the University of Jordan and completed his internal medicine and cardiovascular fellowship at the University of New Mexico and his interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Alomari chose medicine because he is passionate about helping people through innovations in medicine. During medical school, his best friend died of cardiomyopathy, which influenced his focus on the field of cardiology.
One of Dr. Alomari’s passions is building relationships with patients and helping those who suffer from heart disease, as well as being able to fix heart problems with cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques. He is dedicated to his patients and treats each one as if they were his own family and has an impressive track record of providing high-quality care to all his patients.
Dr. Alomari has worked with the United Nations as a medical escort, helping refugees from different parts of the world settle in new countries. In his personal time, he enjoys fishing, travelling and exercising. He was awarded the Southern California Top Doctors in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Dr. Aseem Desai
Cardiologist, Electrophysiologist
Dr. Desai is a native of Chicago, Illinois and attended Northwestern University's prestigious Honors Program in Medical Education. He completed his internship, residency, honorary chief residency, and cardiology and electrophysiology fellowships at Stanford University Medical Center. He has significant expertise with both robotic RF (heating) and cryo (freezing) techniques in the catheter ablation and cure of all heart rhythm disturbances including atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, premature ventricular contractions and ventricular tachycardia.
He specializes in diagnosing and treating palpitations and fainting, and he has extensive experience with heart rhythm monitors including insertable loop recorders. He is involved in clinical research and has numerous academic publications. He is a sought after speaker and has lectured regionally and nationally to patients and physicians. In his personal time, Dr. Desai enjoys being with his family, singing and playing guitar, yoga, and reading.
Dr. Lynne Hung
Electrophysiologist
Dr. Lynne Hung grew up in Thousand Oaks, CA. She received her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Doctorate of Medicine from the University Of Southern California (USC). She completed her internal medicine residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center, cardiovascular fellowship at Los Angeles County-USC medical center, and a clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowship at Harbor-UCLA/Good Samaritan Hospital. Prior to joining Mission Internal Medical Group, Dr. Hung was a full-time senior faculty at Scott & White Memorial Hospital/Texas A&M University Medical Center. She served as Associate Director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship program. She has trained fellows that have become successful cardiac electrophysiologists in both academic and private practice sectors.
Dr. Hung has co-authored several book chapters and peer reviewed articles in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology. As a subspecialty-trained cardiac electrophysiologist, Dr. Hung is skilled in complex ablations and device implantations. She is familiar with the latest advancements in cardiac electrophysiology. Her special interest is atrial tachycardia ablation. She is also a principle investigator on several research projects.
Dr. Hung believes in delivering the best comprehensive and compassionate care to her patients. She spends time explaining complex arrhythmias in simple terms to patients and helps them understand the best treatment options. She is always accessible to her patients and developing a trusting relationship with patients is most important to her.
She is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, nuclear cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology.
In her spare time, Dr. Hung enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading and playing golf.
Dr. Jay Tiongson
Electrophysiologist
Born in Philadelphia, Dr. Jay Tiongson is a highly-trained cardiac electrophysiologist. He completed his cardiology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from 2005-2008, where he served as chief cardiology fellow, and won awards for being both outstanding clinical fellow and outstanding research fellow upon graduation. He also completed a two-year fellowship in cardiac electrophysiology from 2008-2010 at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Tiongson performs all types of cardiac device implantation and full-spectrum catheter ablation procedures, including those for atrial fibrillation and epicardial ventricular tachycardia.
Dr. Tiongson enjoys sharing his career passion with the underserved, and periodically travels to the Philippines to train electrophysiologists in complex ablation and provide educational lectures. Under his proctoring, the first ablations for atrial fibrillation and ischemic ventricular tachycardia were performed in the Philippines.
