World-class Heart Care
In years past, it wasn’t uncommon for patients to leave South Florida in search of world-class heart care. In September 2006, that changed when Boca Raton Regional Hospital opened the Christine E. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
The hospital recruited renowned surgeons, handpicked top cardiovascular specialists and nurses from around the region, and invested in leading-edge facilities. Every aspect of the institute was carefully conceived, from the most basic processes to the most detailed procedures, to ensure world-class heart care from day one.
Today, that interdisciplinary team is working together, right here in Boca Raton, with extraordinary results. They have successfully performed several thousand cardiac catheterizations and hundreds of open-heart surgeries. This exceptional level of care provides South Florida residents with the critical treatment they need, close to their homes, physicians, family and friends.
Our Team
Achieving outstanding patient outcomes requires an outstanding cardiovascular team. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute has assembled world-class personnel at every level - from the region’s top cardiologists and surgeons, to the area’s most experienced cardiovascular nurses.
Advanced Arrhythmia Center
To provide world-class heart care, you can never rest on your accomplishments. Which is why we opened the Advanced Arrhythmia Center at Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute. Here you’ll find a state-of-the-art electrophysiology lab, leading-edge technology as well as board certified cardiac electrophysiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and interventional cardiologists. This multidisciplinary team works together to offer a full spectrum of sophisticated invasive and non-invasive procedures including: diagnosis and treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders, catheter ablation and cutting-edge mini-maze surgery for treatment of atrial fibrillation. In fact, they are among a select few in the region that offer the mini-maze procedure - another reason to choose Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute.
State-of-the-art atrial fibrillation treatment
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular heart rhythm caused by abnormal electrical impulses. According to the American Heart Association, atrial fibrillation affects about 2.2 million Americans. During atrial fibrillation, the heart’s two small upper chambers (the atria) quiver instead of beating effectively. Because blood isn’t pumped completely out of the chambers, it may pool and clot. When these clots leave the heart and become lodged in an artery in the brain, a stroke results. In the past, atrial fibrillation was typically treated with medications, electrical cardioversion, radiofrequency ablation or major open-heart surgery.
At the Advanced Arrhythmia Center at the Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute, surgeons and electrophysiologists are working as a team to perform mini-maze surgery, a groundbreaking new treatment. Using a tiny instrument, they burn lines in the heart to isolate and destroy a small amount of tissue near the source of the irregular impulses. Because the damaged tissue can no longer conduct electrical signals, the impulse transmissions are interrupted. Sophisticated intraoperative testing also localizes nerves innervating the atrium which contribute to the initiation of atrial fibrillation. These nerves are then ablated as well. With the abnormal signals unable to cross the zone of defense, the atria resumes beating normally.
Mini-maze is performed using minimally invasive devices with the aid of a miniature camera, or video telescope, so physicians can operate without making large incisions in the chest. Patients usually return to normal activity more quickly after the procedure and have much less pain than with the traditional approach. Patients also tend to stay in the hospital for a shorter amount of time and have a faster recovery period than those who have conventional surgery.
Diagnostic imaging — a clear advantage
Providing world-class heart care begins with a clear picture of the patient’s condition and an accurate diagnosis. The diagnostic imaging center at Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the region’s largest and our technology is among the most advanced in the world. The radiologists reading patient results are nationally renowned, fellowship-trained and board certified. This combination of extraordinary equipment and experienced eyes provides our patients and their physicians with the most accurate information possible information that saves lives.