New AFib treatment has faster procedure time, improved safety and efficacy (2024)

Pam Wooddell has never been one to slow down for, well, much of anything. The 71-year-old owner of Live Oak Real Estate in Wilmington is typically full-speed ahead helping her clients buy and sell homes, plus doing volunteer work.

So when Wooddell was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that caused bothersome symptoms seriously affecting her quality of life, she needed a medical solution that would work just the way she does: fast, effective and super-efficient.

She soon learned that Dr. Taylor Bazemore, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, had a new, advanced solution – just approved by the FDA in December 2023 – pulsed field ablation.

In April, Wooddell became the first person in North Carolina to receive the new treatment with the Medtronic PulseSelect system. The outpatient procedure left her feeling healthier and stronger the very same day.

“It’s amazing that something that vital is also that simple and easy to recover from,” she said.

AFib unexpectedly strikes

Out of the blue, Wooddell began to feel exhausted all the time and knew something was wrong. She was accustomed to walking her two dogs each day and suddenly could not make it more than three houses down the street before she was worn-out and had to turn back. What’s going on, she wondered.

One day while delivering meals for the Cape Fear Volunteer Center, she was sitting in her car waiting for her grandson, Wyatt, to return from dropping off a food delivery. She flipped down the visor to look in the mirror and was startled by what she saw: Her skin was eerily pulsing near her collarbone.

Wooddell scheduled an appointment with her family nurse practitioner who performed an electrocardiogram and revealed her diagnosis, commonly known as AFib. Normally the heart relaxes and contracts to a steady rhythm. AFib causes the upper chambers of the heart, known as the atria, to beat rapidly and irregularly. This causes the symptoms Wooddell was experiencing, like weakness, lightheadedness, shortness of breath and reduced ability to exercise.

It can also cause blood pooling in the atria, which may lead to dangerous clotting, increasing the risk of stroke. By the year 2030, more than 12 million people in the U.S. will be afflicted with AFib, according to projections from the American Heart Association. It’s the most common heart arrythmia in the country, affecting one in four people in their lifetime.

Recognizing these dangers, Wooddell’s family nurse practitioner referred her to the Novant Health Heart and Vascular Institute - Wilmington Main. Cardiologists confirmed her diagnosis and prescribed two different medications, but they caused Wooddell to experience dizziness and fainting. She returned to explore other solutions, hoping to find one that would allow her to live her active life again.

A new solution

In March she met Bazemore, who told her she was a good candidate for the new pulsed field ablation procedure.

Ablation has been used to correct atrial fibrillation for some 25 years; what’s new is the “pulsed field” part. During traditional ablation, doctors access the heart muscle through a vein in the leg, inserting a very thin catheter, then use extreme heat or cold to create scarring inside the heart. That scarring prevents those areas from sending abnormal signals and the normal beats resume.

Pulsed field ablation is different because it uses an electrical field. The electrical pulses create tiny, controlled injuries to abnormal heart cells, effectively disabling them from causing irregular heartbeats. The electrical pulses are quick and precise. While traditional ablation procedures are safe and effective, pulsed field ablation allows for a shorter procedure time, improving safety and efficacy outcomes in clinical studies.

“With pulsed field ablation, we’re able to effectively and efficiently treat those heart tissues, but it has much less risk of injury to the surrounding organs,” Bazemore explained.

Wooddell would be the first patient in North Carolina to be treated with the Medtronic PulseSelect pulsed field ablation system.

“I liked the odds,” Wooddell said with a laugh. “Dr. Bazemore was very, very supportive. He takes the time to listen. So it made my decision easy.”

An immediate improvement

Wooddell underwent the outpatient procedure April 3. That night at home, she could already feel a difference.

“I could tell that evening that I was getting more oxygen throughout my whole body,” she said. “I felt really great that evening.”

April 4, she was back to selling houses. (She waited an extra day before driving her car to give the anesthesia 24 hours to leave her system but resumed her normal work schedule.) The symptoms that had worried and exhausted her for the last four months were gone. The only evidence of her procedure was a small incision mark in her leg, about the size and shape of a papercut.

“Dr. Bazemore is wonderful. He’s the best, there’s no doubt about it,” she said. “The staff are fabulous as well. I think they’re great.”

Wooddell described the procedure as a “nonevent” and said the only part that felt a bit like a chore was the prep that surrounded it, like getting an IV for anesthesia. Now she’s back to her active work and volunteer schedule, walking her dogs again, spending time with her grandkids and looking forward to celebrating her 52-year wedding anniversary with her husband, Walt, in August.

Would she recommend the pulsed field ablation procedure to a friend? Absolutely. For anyone who thinks they, or a family member, may be a good candidate for pulsed field ablation to treat AFib, Bazemore recommends speaking with your Novant Health cardiologist.

“It’s really weird to think that you can do that much curative work with this very, very thin metal wire,” Wooddell said.