Tiny Device Reduces Stroke Risk in Patients

In a dimly lit procedure room at Methodist Hospital, three physicians trained their eyes on large screens displaying images of Albert Grubb’s beating heart.

Two took turns threading a wire through the organ toward a small, fingerlike projection off the left atrium, one of the heart’s two upper chambers.

That projection, called the left atrial appendage, is a trouble spot for people like Grubb who have a condition called atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heartbeat in adults.

Omaha World-Herald reporter Julie Anderson: Tiny Device Reduces Stroke Risk in Patients

Omaha World-Herald video by Brendan Sullivan: Watchman Device Could Give Patients New Perspective on Life