By Hannah Curran, Editor
BIRMINGHAM — Ascension St. Vincent’s East has scheduled its 300th Watchman Procedure, which will be performed before the end of the year.
Dr. Corey Coleman (in green) and Dr. John Parks (holding the sign). (Photo courtesy of Shea Allen)
Dr. Corey Coleman, Cardiac Electrophysiologist at Ascension St. Vincent’s East, explained that the Watchman procedure is where they implant a small device inside the heart to help lower a person’s risk for stroke from a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation.
“It’s a catheter-based procedure where we use a small catheter in the vein at the top of someone’s leg to then go in and access the heart,” Coleman said. “The device is loaded inside this catheter and then deployed inside the heart in a specific location where clots can develop that will immobilize or move out of the heart and go to the brain, causing strokes. So we close off this area of the heart to help lower the risk of stroke.”
Coleman said it’s designed to try and help remove the need for blood thinning medications to lower the risk of stroke.
Dr. John Parks, Interventional Cardiologist at Ascension St. Vincent’s East, explained that atrial fibrillation is a common heart rhythm abnormality that comes with an increased risk of blood clots and stroke.
“People normally are put on a blood thinner for atrial fibrillation, but we have a large number of patients who have bleeding issues or have other reasons that it’s not ideal for them to take up blood thinner for the rest of their life,” Parks said. “So this procedure is a minimally invasive alternative for them to have another way to protect against stroke without taking a blood thinner.”
The Watchman Procedure also helps improve a patient’s overall quality of life.
“Patients have a lot of frustration with the problems with taking blood thinners,” Parks said. “So once we’re able to successfully do the procedure, they have protection against stroke, but they also have less complications with bleeding, and have less emotional angst with the risk of taking a blood thinner. So it’s, in general, an improvement in their quality of life, and also can help keep them out of the hospital with bleeding complications.”
Coleman said this procedure has increased in volume over the last several years.
“This is a relatively new procedure in our field,” Coleman said. “It’s only been available really for widespread use in the past decade.”
Coleman explained that prior to the procedure, people who were in this situation who had anemia, bleeding problems, maybe they had cancer and blood disorders related to their cancer and couldn’t be on a blood thinning medication, all of these people would have been left with no alternative, they would have been just chronically left exposed to an increased risk for stroke.
“I think it has a huge impact on the long-term health of all our patients in this area,” Coleman said. “It will be seen and felt, I think, for decades, lowering the risk of stroke in our patient population.”
Parks explained that they are trying to reach a wide patient population, help provide this service, and reduce the risk of stroke for patients that previously had less access to specialized procedures if they live in a rural location.
“We’re trying to expand our reach and serve a wider patient population,” Parks said. “I would say that hospital space has been a limiting factor over the last year. So we’re trying to increase volume through the Cath Lab and the Cardiac Service Lines. This is often completed with an overnight stay. So us being able to do this and have a place for these patients to stay overnight in a comfortable setting will help us expand the number of patients that can get it done in a timely fashion.”
