Author: Sherry Farney
Ken Kitner doesn’t hold back when asked to compare his 2021 treatment for an abnormal heartbeat, commonly known as AFib, with his second in the fall of 2025.
“Amazing, is all I can say,” said Ken. “The first time was horrible. I really thought I was dying that first night after my procedure. I was bloated with water, miserable, and after recovering, afraid to ever have to go through that again.”
When medications cannot keep AFib under control, for decades, the second traditional method of treatment has been the destruction of specific heart tissue through either a thermal (heat) ablation or cryo (cold) ablation.
An alternative to the traditional method is now available. It is called pulse field ablation (PFA), and it uses non-thermal electrical pulses to destroy damaged tissue while avoiding harm to surrounding structures. Heart specialists at McLaren Flint have been treating patients with this technology since June 2024.
“The PFA technology is the best advancement in AFib patient treatment options in the three decades I have been in practice,” said Dr. Abdul Alawwa, a board-certified electrophysiologist at McLaren Flint who specializes in treating abnormal heart rhythms.
Not only does the PFA technology cut the procedure time in half or more, but it also eliminates the risk of damaging the esophagus and phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm. That makes it safer and an option for older patients who would not have been considered for an ablation in the past.
Both the thermal and cryo procedures require several or even dozens of ablations to the heart tissue, which show up as dots on the image map captured during the procedures.
Performed in a specialized McLaren Flint cardiac catheterization lab, a catheter is inserted into the patient’s groin and tunneled up into the heart. With the assistance of advanced imaging, the cardiac electrophysiologist directs the catheter to the damaged tissue and deploys the electrical impulses with two devices.
“One device looks like a basket and is inserted into the pulmonary veins, and the other is like a flower with four petals that is used in the heart outside of each vein,” said Dr. Alawwa. “We use short, quick pulses of energy at each of the eight placements. I can’t say enough about how much better it is for me as a clinician and patients in their recovery.”
The American Heart Association predicts that by 2030, over 12 million people will be diagnosed with AFib, which carries an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications.
With an estimated 7 million Americans already living with AFib, this new technology has the potential to benefit countless patients.
“I came home with no chest pain, breathing well, and was ready to go back to work in a couple of days,” said Ken. “It really is like night and day between the two procedures.”
To learn more about McLaren Flint’s comprehensive heart program, visit mclaren.org/flintheart1