TYLER, Texas — CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Louis Peaches Owen Heart Hospital is one of the first hospitals in the nation to launch a new FDA-approved treatment for atrial fibrillation thanks to a special gift from the Hall Family Foundation.
As a result of the donation, the hospital received two Farapulse Pulsed Field Ablation generators, the latest advanced technology designed to treat atrial fibrillation, which is a heart condition that causes an irregularly fast heart rate.
The donation was sought after a father and son were both patients at the heart hospital and wanted to give back.
“This heart hospital holds a very special place in our hearts, both literally and figuratively,” Hall Family Foundation’s Gerry Hall said.
The Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital is the second facility in Texas and one of the first 10 in the country to use the technology, according to Boston Scientific.
The first two patient procedures using the Farapulse PFA were completed on Monday, Feb. 19.
“We know that this is going to be a great addition for the heart hospital,” Monte Hall said.
During the traditional procedure, a catheter is guided toward the interior of the heart and generates extreme temperatures to destroy specific areas in the heart associated with abnormal heart rhythms.
Since the Farapulse PFA System relies on tissue selection, this allows for non-thermal electric fields to erode heart tissue and avoid damage to surrounding structures. This procedure was recently approved by the FDA on Jan. 31.
“We know that this is an incredibly safe and very effective way to treat atrial fibrillation,” Medical director of electrophysiology at the heart hospital Dr. Stan Weiner said.
The Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital has performed the first procedure in Texas as a part of the Farapulse PFA clinical trial in March 2023. Since then, it has enrolled more than 400 patients at 53 sites across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
“By 2030, atrial fibrillation will impact more than 12 million Americans,” CHRISTUS regional vice president of cardiovascular services Deb Chelette said.