Breakthrough Procedure Provides New Treatment to Cure Atrial Fibrillation

The First Simultaneous Surgical and Catheter Based Atrial Fibrillation Procedure was Successfully Performed in Maastricht, Netherlands using the ESTECH COBRA® Products.        

Maastricht, Netherlands — September 13, 2007 -   ESTECH announced today that the first simultaneous surgical and catheter based atrial fibrillation (AF) procedure was performed by Mark La Meir, M.D., a Cardiac Surgeon and Laurent Pison, M.D., an Electrophysiologist (EP), in Maastricht, Netherlands.  Working side by side in their newly opened Hybrid Room (Catheterization Laboratory/Operating Room), they easily created an effective lesion set on the heart around the pulmonary veins using the ESTECH COBRA Adhere XL™ device, which resulted in the patient immediately converting to a normal heart rhythm. The patient was then mapped via EP catheters. Additional ablation lesions inside the heart were made with a temperature controlled catheter based procedure through the femoral vein to optimize the long term outcome of the patient. The hybrid procedure was successful in removing the electrical triggers causing the AF and blocking the electrical path that propagates the electrical signals thus restoring a normal controlled heart rhythm.  

Dr. La Meir has been an innovator in the area of minimally invasive AF Surgery and has strived to develop an operation where the highest cure rate is possible using the safest and most effective technology.   Dr. La Meir commented: “With the COBRA Adhere XL technology, we have taken the proven success of this very precise temperature controlled radiofrequency ablation technology and applied it in the least invasive way possible.   Using this hybrid approach, we are able to obtain real time feedback that allows immediate resolution to any procedural challenges. “

Dr. Pison went on to comment:  “This hybrid procedure brings together the best aspects of both the Catheter Lab and the Surgical Suite. We now have access to a proven surgically applied lesion on the heart with the best diagnostic technology available. This innovative technique creates a very efficacious procedure.”

The ESTECH COBRA technology is known for its superior success rates in treating AF which is documented at 82% for patients two to three years post treatment.   Steve Geyster, VP and Managing Director for Europe, announced:  “ESTECH will further support the initiation of Hybrid and Minimally Invasive Ablation efforts and will monitor the effectiveness of this procedure with the COBRA AFfirm Registry. This registry program will follow data collection guidelines recently established by the Heart Rhythm Society and utilize the COBRA AFfirm™ Bipolar Pacing Probe for assessing the effectiveness of the procedure”.

About ESTECH
Headquartered in San Ramon, CA, ESTECH offers tools for least invasive techniques and traditional approaches to the procedures cardiac surgeons do every day—coronary artery bypass, valve surgery, ablation and surgical treatment of congestive heart failure.  AF affects more than 2.5 million Americans which increases risk of stroke by 20-25%.  The COBRA Adhere XL is indicated for AF in Europe.  The COBRA Adhere XL is indicated for cardiac ablation in the United States.