Columbus, Ohio Cardiothoracic Surgeon Launches New Site on State-of-the-Art Atrial Fibrillation Treatment

    COLUMBUS, OH, May 13, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. John H. Sirak, a heart surgeon at Ohio State University, has launched a new Web site (http://www.ohioafib.com) to educate people living with atrial fibrillation (AF) and their family members about the condition and explain the full range of treatment options, including medical management, catheter ablation, and surgical approaches such as totally thoracoscopic maze surgery. For several years, Dr. Sirak has been innovating surgical treatment techniques that offer the ability to cure atrial fibrillation and return the heart to a normal rhythm and rate.

"I hope that the Web site will assist patients and their families to better understand atrial fibrillation and what can be done to treat it effectively," says Columbus, Ohio cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Sirak, who is a board-certified surgeon and cardiothoracic surgery specialist. "I have been treating patients with AF for many years. We now offer the most advanced, truly minimally invasive treatment for all types of atrial fibrillation."

Approximately six million adults in the United States currently have some form of atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs in the upper chambers of the heart (the atria), producing heart palpitations and an elevated heart rate that can lead to serious health risks including fainting, chest pains, congestive heart failure, and stroke. Medical management through rate and rhythm drugs and anticoagulants like Coumadin is very common, but actually achieves a durable relief from atrial fibrillation in only a small minority of cases. Definitive treatment is necessary for people who continue to have symptoms, or who require escalating doses of medicines.

"People who continue to have symptoms of AF even with medication need to know that they have other treatment options," says Dr. Sirak. "Catheter ablation is a common alternative treatment; however, it is an inferior alternative to the current totally thoracoscopic maze procedure, especially for people with advanced forms of atrial fibrillation. The total thoracoscopic maze procedure employs a unique five-box verification technique which makes the operation highly effective against even advanced atrial fibrillation. This technique allows real-time confirmation that the sources of atrial fibrillation in the heart are truly isolated in enclosed compartments, or boxes. That's a revelation to patients across the country who have spent years dealing with AF unsuccessfully." This key innovation was developed at the Ohio State University Ross Heart Hospital.

Dr. Sirak's new Web site provides easily-accessible information about AF and includes a patient resources section where people considering traveling to Columbus, Ohio for surgery can learn what to expect. Another feature that is getting a lot of attention is the stories of real patients that Dr. Sirak has successfully treated with the totally thoracoscopic maze procedure.

"I believe the new site is an excellent resource for understanding key differences in currently available treatments for atrial fibrillation, and exactly what procedure defines the state of the art," adds Dr. Sirak. "My philosophy as a doctor is to be as available and accessible to my patients as possible, and providing the latest information on the Web helps me in that goal. I make myself freely available to my patients before and after their operation."

About John H. Sirak, MD

Dr. John Sirak (http://www.ohioafib.com) is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and performs treatments for atrial fibrillation as a cardiothoracic surgeon practicing at The Ohio State University Ross Heart Hospital. As a heart surgeon in Ohio, Dr. Sirak earned his MD from Case Western Reserve University before completing 14 years of postgraduate training and being appointed as clinical assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at OSU. He is a leader in research on minimally-invasive surgical therapy of atrial fibrillation and continues to author and present his findings.

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