Maui Health Care Options Update - Heart Surgeon Praised

Have you heard about a catheter ablation?  Well as we all get older, it's something we will hear about.  It's a procedure that treats patients with irregular heartbeats, or atrial fibrillaton, to prevent blood clotting and possible strokes.  As an alternative to oral medications, the results are much better, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Doctors use a small catheter and radio-frequency energy to burn away small pieces of tissue that triggers the irregular heartbeats.

The good news is that here on Maui you can receive this procedure from a couple of experts in the field... Dr. Mark Schwab, a cardiac electrophysiologist, and Dr. Koonlawee Nademanee, a world renowned physician.  The Maui Memorial Medical Center (our Maui hospital) has invested a lot of money to pilot this project, and may be only the 2nd or 3rd hospital in this country besides Los Angeles that is conducting catheter ablations.  Dr. Nademanee performs the surgery on a regular basis at 3 locations in Los Angeles, and has trained other physicians in London, Japan and Thailand.  He has been visiting Maui for about 16 years to work with Dr. Schwab on a variety of cardiac patients, and to conduct research.

The cutting-edge procedures have had a positive effect on patients as well as the staff at the hospital here.  Heart function is increased, and risk of death is substantially decreased after the 2 hour surgery.  Now Maui residents and part-time residents have a great new option.

Read more in the Maui News online.