Las Palmas Medical Center’s new robot-assisted heart therapy

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - Las Palmas Medical Center became the first hospital in El Paso with a new kind of therapy for Atrial Fibrillation, or irregular heartbeats, using small incisions and robotically assisted surgery, with the distinction of being the only hospital in West Texas to offer the procedure as well.

Dr. Hector Flores, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Las Palmas, finished the first surgery successfully with the help of Las Palmas electrophysiologist Dr. Steven Hamilton on their patient, Richard Aldersley.

Las Palmas officials say the surgery uses three small incisions on the outside of the heart to create scar lines which help block signals causing the a-fib, with the robotic tools meant to alleviate a-fib indefinitely.

According to Dr. Flores, this is a condition affecting around 10 million Americans, saying the biggest risk is blood clots developing as a result of the faster heartbeat not ejecting blood, and said in some cases the condition can even cause heart failure.

So Dr. Flores said one of the first parts of the surgery is avoiding the left atrial appendage, the area of the heart blood clots most commonly come from, before trying to prevent the a-fib altogether in the second part.

This, Dr. Flores said, is when he inserts the robotic tools no bigger than his pinky finger and 'puts a clip' on the exposed left atrial appendage, which he called a nest for the blood clots, which he said affects the a-fib definitively, which is why he said before the procedure he tells patients to get off their anticoagulants beforehand.

"The clip that we put on is definitive, so I often tell people you have to stop your anticoagulation before this surgery, but that's the last time you're ever going to take anticoagulation because we will ablate," Flores said. "We will completely ablate the posterior wall, but more importantly we will ligate the left atrial appendage definitively."

Aldersley said Dr. Flores and his team saved his life and complimented the patience of the doctors who guided him through this life-changing procedure he calls a 'gift' to the borderland.

"I'm living proof that this procedure works and gives people, changes lives. Absolutely does; it changed my life, and the fact to know that it's available to patients here in El Paso, I think, is a gift."