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Atrial Fibrillation & Heart Valve Education Center 2.0 Launches!

Written By: Adam Pick - Patient, Author & HeartValveSurgery.com Founder
Medical Experts: Dr. Marc Gerdisch, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Franciscan Health, and Dr. Patrick McCarthy, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Northwestern Medicine
Page last updated: December 21, 2020

If you have been diagnosed with heart valve disease, here's a really important fact to know...

According to Dr. Marc Gerdisch, the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Franciscan Health, up to 35% of patients with heart valve disease also suffer from atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.

Atrial Fibrillation And Heart Valve Disease

Why is AFib a Big Concern for Heart Valve Patients?

Unfortunately, patients with AFib are 5 times more likely to suffer a stroke, according to the American Heart Association.

Another unfortunate reality is that AFib is significantly under-treated when patients go in for heart valve surgery.

In fact, according to new research from Dr. Patrick McCarthy, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Northwestern Medicine, only 38% of patients with mitral valve disease and AFib get their AFib treated during cardiac procedures. (Yes, you read that right... Only 38%!!!!)

For this reason, we launched an AFib & Heart Valve Education Center in 2015 to (i) help patients with heart valve disease learn more about AFib and (ii) help patients advocate for treatment.

Today, I'm excited to announce that we just relaunched the AFib & Heart Valve Education Center with new educational content, videos, free downloads and an AFib & Heart Valve Surgeon Finder.

Atrial Fibrillation & Heart Valve Disease Prevalence

Many thanks to all the doctors who helped us update the new AFib Education Center.

In particular, a special thanks goes to Dr. Marc Gerdisch, Dr. Patrick McCarthy and Dr. Vaughn Starnes for filming several educational videos with me!

I would also like to thank AtriCure for sponsoring this educational initiative.

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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Written by Adam Pick
Patient & Website Founder

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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