by Frank Mustac

November 21, 2007

 

Inova Fairfax Hospital last week marked the 20th anniversary of the invention of a surgical procedure that cures patients suffering from a serious heart condition called atrial fibrillation.

 

Known as "a-fib" for short, atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm originating in the atria (top chambers of the heart) and results from a malfunction of the heart's electrical system. A-fib affects about 2 million people in the United States and can greatly increase the risk of stroke.

 

On Friday, Nov. 16, Inova hosted a conference at the Fairview Park Marriott hotel in Falls Church where physicians and specialists in the fields of cardiac surgery, cardiology and electrophysiology gathered to exchange information and knowledge on treating atrial fibrillation, including advances in the 20-year-old Maze procedure.

 

At the hotel the night before, patients who had previously undergone the procedure came together for a dinner reception to reacquaint themselves with their Inova surgeon, Dr. Niv Ad, and to meet the inventor of the Maze procedure, Dr. James L. Cox, who also trained Ad.

 

"The main reason the procedure is important is because it was the first successful attempt at actually curing the problem of atrial fibrillation," Cox said on Thursday evening. "The previous attempts had been designed to sort of control it and to decrease the detrimental effects from it, but not to actually cure the problem."

 

Cox, who is affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, developed and first performed the Maze procedure in 1987.

 

The operation involves making a series of precise maze-like incisions in the right and left atria to interrupt the conduction of abnormal electrical impulses. The Cox-Maze procedure has proved highly successful and has a success rate of more than 90 percent.

 

"This is an important night because it's 20 years later and it works," Cox said.

 

Ad, who is director of Cardiac Surgery Research at Inova's Heart and Vascular Institute, helped establish the Maze surgical program at Inova Fairfax Hospital in 2005. Since then, it has become one of the most active programs of its kind in the country and the most active in the Washington, D.C., area.

 

"Dr. Cox trained me. And it's been a wonderful few years afterwards," said Ad, who is originally from Israel.

 

Asked why the conference was organized, Ad said, "We all thought it would be great to survey the 20 years since the procedure was invented as well as the steps in innovation that have taken place ever since, especially in the last two to three years."

 

"I see this event as very special," he said. "We also invited our patients and a lot of physicians to attend this event to celebrate this with us."

 

Several of Ad's former patients attended the Nov. 15 dinner reception. Among them were Marjorie Rowley of Fairfax, Teresita Vignale of Vienna, and Lanette Lutz of Stafford.

 

Rowley, who grew up in England and was a child during World War II, said she contracted pneumonia and rheumatic fever as a girl, which contributed to her atrial fibrillation.

 

She said that before her operation in 2006, she always had a lot of energy, but would tire easily. Rowley also said she could sense when her heart was beating abnormally.

 

"Now I don't take any medication anymore," Rowley said. "What a difference it made to my life."

 

Vignale, who underwent the Cox-Maze surgery in 2005, said her doctor suggested the operation after she took a stress test.

 

"I flunked miserably," she said.

 

Ad performed both the Maze procedure and a heart bypass on Vignale, who is originally from Cuba and a grandmother of five.

 

"It's was no picnic, I'll tell you," she said.

 

Lutz described her state of health after undergoing surgery earlier this year as "fabulous."

 

"I feel like a new woman," said Lutz, who is a great-grandmother. "It takes a lot of stress off of you."

 

Lutz's daughter Nanette Rock said her mother now uses her oxygen tank less often and can walk farther distances.

 

"It's a very touching moment this upcoming holiday for me," said Lutz, who spent the past two winter holiday seasons in the hospital. "I haven't been back in the hospital since I had this procedure."

 

She gave Dr. Cox high praise for his surgical invention.

 

"It's because of men like him ... that people like us are here today," Lutz said.