New Heart Procedure gives patients their life back

Dan Knarr was frustrated. For nearly a year, a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation (a-fib) was negatively impacting his quality of life, and none of the treatments were working.

Curative ablation has given Dan Knarr his life back. The heart procedure eliminated an atrial fibrillation that made it difficult for him to do most of the things he enjoyed.

A-fib causes the heart rate to rapidly increase without warning and results in shortness of breath and discomfort. Dan went from between one and three episodes a week to daily occurrences that could last for hours.

It became so debilitating that even walking up a flight of stairs was a challenge. The active Lancaster County businessman eventually had to give up most activities that he loved… including his job.

“It felt like I was climbing Mt. Everest every day,” Dan says. “At first, when my heart rate would accelerate I would try to push through it. But it got to the point where I just couldn’t physically do the things I wanted or needed to do. The mind was willing, but the body wasn’t.”

Dan initially thought it was indigestion. But when medication didn’t work, he sought answers, from the Lancaster General Heart Center.

Doctors diagnosed his a-fib and started treating it with medications. But Dan continued to experience rapid heartbeat on a regular basis and saw no improvement in his quality of life.

He had nearly reached his wits end when he met with Ward Pulliam, MD, of The Heart Group, who offered another solution.

“Medication is the first treatment option, but it was clear that it wasn’t working for him,” Dr. Pulliam says. “Mr. Knarr was not in a state of well-being. He was fatigued, experiencing frequent palpitations, and was frustrated with his medications.”

Atrial fibrillation also puts a person at higher risk for stroke, so treating Dan’s severe condition was critical.

A minimally invasive solution

Dr. Pulliam felt Dan was a candidate for a procedure that could eliminate the effects of atrial fibrillation: curative ablation.

A relatively new procedure, it was developed in the mid-1990s and has come a long way to become an effective minimally invasive procedure, giving people a new lease on life without needing open heart surgery.

Using a catheter, the doctor inserts thin wires through a vein in the groin, which are threaded up the vein into the left atrium of the heart. The doctor then uses electrodes at the tip of the wire to burn heart tissue, creating a barrier around the pulmonary vein causing the atrial fibrillation.

“This procedure can change a person’s life, and it gives them confidence to return to their normal lives,” adds Dr. Melissa McKernan, The Heart Group.

Dr. Gohn will present a Focus on Health seminar on Atrial Fibrillation at the Masonic Homes in Elizabethtown on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. To register, call (800) 341-2121 or register on-line at: www.LancasterGeneral.org/foh

Drs. Pulliam, McKernan, Seth J. Worley and Douglas Gohn, all from The Heart Group, are the only Lancaster County doctors performing curative ablation for atrial fibrillation.

“We have a state-of-the-art facility, with highly trained staff for these procedures,” says Dr. Gohn, Electrophysiology and Pacing Medical Director. “Few institutions have the high level of technology and the staff expertise that we have here at Lancaster General Hospital.”

Lancaster General is committed to enhancing its technology and will continue to introduce the latest advances to make it even more successful. As an example, Dr. Worley is an innovator of catheter technology, working with manufacturers to create catheters that are more efficient and maximize the benefits for the patient.

Dr. Melissa McKernan is one of four Lancaster County cardiologists performing curative ablation.

Dr. Worley first started doing a-fib procedures over six years ago at Lancaster General. With the latest advances in technology, this procedure that once took eight hours or more, can now be performed in almost half the time.

This past year, Dr. Gohn and his heart team at Lancaster General Heart Center have performed more than 100 a-fib procedures and expect the number of cases to increase. 

‘Completely a-fib free’

“Dr. Pulliam was astute enough to see what the problem was and what needed to be done to fix it,” Dan says. “He gave me all the information I needed to help me decide that this was the right thing to do.”

Dr. Pulliam told him the procedure had an 80% chance of success on the first attempt, but sometimes takes a second or third attempt to eliminate the a-fib.

So when rapid heart beats returned a few weeks after the procedure, Dan and his wife, Laura, were anything but defeated. “I was very confident in the people I was dealing with, so I was not frustrated at all by it,” Dan says.

Fortunately, his second procedure did the trick. “I’ve been completely a-fib-free since August 25,” Dan says.

“I can’t say enough about the change in my quality of living. I’ve been blessed, absolutely blessed,” Dan says. “Dr. Pulliam gave me my life back 100 percent.”