I was diagnosed with atrial fibrilation quite by accident a couple of years ago (I had no palpitations or pain) when I went to my primary care physician's office for a routine stress test. Before the test was to begin my blood pressure was taken, and it was quite high. I was then referred to a cardiologist to help determine if I needed to be taking coumadin to avoid potential blood clots which coul cause a stroke. After taking coumadin for about a year, I decided I wanted to look into having an ablation procedure which, if successful, would allow me to get off coumadin.
I was referred to Dr. DeVille at Arrhythmia Management, and after consulting with him, I decided to go ahead with the ablation in May, 2008. The procedure was successful (about 20% of ablations need to be repeated), and I have subsequently been taken off all prescription medications (I still take aspirin daily). Throughout all my care the people at Arrhythmia Management have been very caring and competent. I would certainly recommend Dr. DeVille and his colleagues to anyone considering an ablation.
-- John Ingle
It is really hard to write about someone that you truly feel saved your life. I know without a doubt if Dr. Beveridge and Dr. DeVille had not come into my life when they did I would not be alive. I came to them by recommendation of my Cardiologist, Dr. T. Waller, who is another great man and healer. I have congestive heart failure and there was nothing left that Dr. Waller could do for me.
I was having problems going in and out of Afib and couldn’t seem to gain any ground. For me this was fate, my father had this disease, as did his father and his, and so on. I am only the second generation to hit 50, have a heart attack and live to tell about it. Dr. Waller told me I needed a pacemaker and without one there was little left for me. He had given me 5 years after the first heart attack, and I was running out of time and luck. I live in a small town in Northwestern Texas and with his permission I sought someone closer to me to do the work. I saw a doctor in Wichita Falls, who did numerous tests, then told me that I was not sick enough for a pacemaker.
At this time I only had 24% usage of my heart. Dr. Waller was not a happy camper over this and set me up with Dr. Beveridge, whom he had practiced with earlier in his career. All he said was this man will take good care of you. Our first visit was hard for me, I did not want someone opening my chest and inserting a bunch of wiring and stuff, but he explained everything to me in his usual, patient way and with care for my feelings.
Since my first visit we have been through 3 pacemakers, and a multitude of other issues. He has always been there for me, even when he did not do the surgery himself. He has always had my back. Last year alone (2008) I was in the Heart Hospital in Plano 9 separate times, and through each and every one of them Dr. Beveridge and Dr. DeVille have held my hand.
I am sure that there are times, probably more than I would like to think of, when he wished that I was someone else’s pain in butt, but never has he or his staff had anything but kind words and time for me. Throughout my father dealing with this I have met my share of heart doctors that truly believe they are better than everyone else, talk down to you and basically treat you as an idiot. I guess holding someone’s heart in yours hands can play mind games with some people. Dr. Beveridge and Dr. DeVille (and Dr. Waller) are what a doctor should be. Kind, patient, caring and above all basic human beings. God made certain men to be healers, and I believe that these 3 are what He meant when he made Doctors.
-- With Gratitude, Sandi Noe
Dr. DeVille & Dr. Dustin Williams,
Just wanted to thank you! When I first came to see you for a Tilt Test for syncope, I could barely stand up for more than 10 minutes without getting light-headed. You tried many different ideas with me, and then had the foresight to refer me to Dr. Levine.
I did Dr. Levine's exercise program religiously for 4 months and now it has become a staple in my weekly routine. I feel so much better that I rarely even remember I have POTS. The right exercise is the key and I am so thankful that you got me into see Dr. Levine so I could learn what I needed to do to get into condition to get my life back to normal.
We recently went to Colorado and hiked 7 miles in ~10,000 ft. altitude up and down the mountains with no symptoms at all, and my soccer team won first place this last season. You guys are amazing and keep up the great work-if there is ever anything I can do to help spread the word, let me know. Thanks!
-- Gail Jackson, NCS/POTS patient and forever FAN!!!
Robotic surgery technology offers high-tech help for the heart
By ANANDA BOARDMAN, Staff Writer
Published: 12 February 2012 08:55 PM
As the doctor’s hands moved over the controls at the oddly shaped console, four robotic arms across the room mimicked every movement with scientific precision — inside the patient.
Large screens around the room gave the staff a full view — courtesy of a camera attached to one of those arms — as the patient had only four small incisions open.
Robots have been used in surgery since the 1980s, but the technology is now more widely available in hospitals across North Texas, whether they are used for prostate surgery or heart procedures.
The main beneficiaries are patients. The high-tech advances allow doctors to perform complex surgeries that are less invasive and require shorter recovery times.
“Recuperation is so quick; it doesn’t disrupt your life,” said Terri Ricketts, 61, who had a robotic ablation to correct an irregular heartbeat. The resident of Blue Ridge, in Collin County, went home the day after surgery.
Dr. Kim Jett, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, said it’s a “win-win situation.”
“It’s better for the surgeon because we can see better, we can manipulate better and … it generates a better operation,” he said.
Robotic assistance for prostate and gynecological procedures has been common for years.
At the Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, robots are now used for some cardiac and thoracic procedures. “I think that the robot is going to revolutionize thoracic surgery,” said Jett, who is the Heart Hospital’s medical director for thoracic robotics. “It’s going to be great for heart surgery, [but with] thoracic surgery I think that all chest operations will be able to be done with the robot.”
During procedures, the doctor sees what is happening inside the patient in a three-dimensional camera image — blown up 10 times the actual size.
The Heart Hospital has used the $1.9 million da Vinci Surgical System — with three arms wielding instruments and a fourth holding the camera — since November.
Scott Weathersby of Sherman, who has had several traditional operations, had his first robotic surgery late last year. Jett performed both a quadruple bypass and a robotic procedure to remove a cancerous lung nodule on Weathersby.
The 71-year-old is already a convert.
“Knowing what I went through before, I’d be a fool not to let him do this,” Weathersby said. “I’ll tell you, it makes a lot of difference if you do it that way.”
The da Vinci robot is not the only new technology at the hospital. The electrophysiology department upgraded to the Epoch platform late last year as well. Epoch is the newest version of remote magnetic navigation; it allows doctors to treat cardiac arrhythmia — or irregular heartbeat — with a magnet-guided catheter wire.
Dr. Brian DeVille, an electrophysiologist, said the computer system shapes the magnetic field, which is used to pull a thin, flexible catheter into the patient’s heart. Once inside, DeVille uses it to ablate — or burn — the tissue that is sending incorrect signals to the heart. “It gives the physician more control over every aspect” of the procedure, DeVille said. Another set of magnets in the operating table triangulates the location of the catheter to within 1 millimeter, and creates a 3-D map of the heart on the doctor’s screen.
The mapping system reduces the radiation exposure for the patient and the doctor during the procedure, as there is less need to X-ray to check the catheter’s location.
Ricketts, who had the robotic ablation procedure done in December, was unaware she had an irregular heartbeat until last April, when she suddenly started fainting and running out of energy.
She decided to try an Epoch procedure after other treatments and medications failed.
“I love Dr. DeVille. He’s fun and he’s so excited about what he’s doing,” Ricketts said.
Doctors at the Heart Hospital say they hope the procedures become more common, and they are working on more ways to use the technology, such as replacing heart valves. “Everybody has a friend that’s had robotic surgery,” Jett said. “And if you’ve had robotic surgery, it does impress on you that it’s a lot better.”
Brush up on your family health history this holiday
Louis Deluca/Staff Photographer
Shawna Quillin (right), learned she had Long QT Syndrome, a heart arrhythmia, when she was 32. Family members Pam Scrivner (left), Heather Wilson and Landry Williams subsequently tested positive for Long QT.
By Nancy Churnin, Staff Writer, Dallas Morning News
Published: 14 November 2011 10:44 AM
Learning her family medical history may have saved Kristen Babovec's life.
Babovec knew that eight extended relatives had breast cancer, so instead of waiting until age 40, as is the norm, her doctor began annual testing early. At 34, a mammogram revealed the first signs of cancer. Because it was caught early and treated aggressively, Babovec, who lives in Garland, is now 40 and in full remission. She was fit enough to run the New York City Marathon.
Holidays, when families gather, offer a chance to talk about family health history. The office of the Surgeon General has declared Thanksgiving National Family History Day since 2004.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services touts the importance of family health histories and provides a free online tool at familyhistory.hhs .gov. Nedal Arar, an associate professor in the school of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio , referred to family health history as the gold standard in evaluating a person's medical risk in the study she presented this month at the Human Genetics 60th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
It is also the cheapest and most effective investment you can make in your health, says Kimberly McMillin, Babovec's primary care physician at Baylor Medical Center at North Garland.
"There are so many diseases that are inherited," McMillin says, noting that heart disease, cancer, diabetes , hemophilia, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia can run in families.
"If we know what relatives passed away from, and what ailments they had at what age, then even if you can't prevent what's going to happen, you can catch those precancerous polyps before they turn into cancer and treat high cholesterol before it leads to a stroke."
A survey from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that just a third of Americans know their family health history. It's standard for doctors to ask questions, but patients are often uncertain of the answers.
Babovec says she wouldn't have known her history if she hadn't started sleuthing after her mother, who was in her 50s, was found to have the breast cancer that would kill her.
Had her mother had this information earlier, Babovec says she might have been screened earlier and saved, too.
Dr. J. Brian DeVille, medical director of cardiac electrophysiology at the Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, says family medical histories can also alert doctors to symptoms of heart abnormalities.
He looks for a history of heart abnormalities in a patient's family, if a family member died suddenly for no apparent reason, or if family members report periods of dizziness, palpitations or fainting.
Shawna Quillin, a mother of six from McKinney, was 32 when her husband brought her to the emergency room after she had what looked like a seizure.
Less than an hour after arriving, she went into sudden cardiac arrest. It turned out she had an undiagnosed case of Long QT Syndrome, a heart arrhythmia.
After DeVille stabilized her with a defibrillator, Quillin informed her family members, so they could be tested for the condition.
One of Quillin's daughters, her sister and her sister's oldest daughter tested positive for Long QT.
Quillin's first reaction was guilt.
"I felt they got this horrible news because of what happened to me," she says. She's since learned that her niece's defibrillator has saved her life numerous times.
"She calls me and thanks me," Quillin says. "And I tell her, 'I'm so glad that I went through what I went through to help you out.' "
Originally published Nov. 23, 2010
