WHS cardiovascular team celebrates 100th Watchman procedure
The Washington Health System recently celebrated performing its 100th Watchman procedure.
Photos: Courtesy of Washington Health System
The cardiovascular care team at Washington Health System Washington Hospital celebrates the completion of the 100th Watchman procedure. The device is used to reduce the risk of stroke in certain patients.
Linda Mankey, pastor at East Buffalo Presbyterian Church, underwent the Watchman procedure at WHS Washington Hospital. Here, Mankey, a car enthusiast, is standing beside her 2012 Volkswagen Beetle. She pinstriped the car and added the decals.
Washington Health System Washington Hospital’s cardiovascular care team recently performed its 100th Watchman implant, a device that reduces the risk of stroke in patients with an irregular heartbeat.
Washington Health System has been using the Watchman device for nearly two years, since performing the first procedure at Washington Hospital in September 2019.
The implant is an alternative to the use of blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, or Afib, an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications.
The most common cardiac arrhythmia, Afib currently affects more than five million Americans.
According to WHS, patients with Afib have a five-fold increased risk of stroke because it affects the heart’s ability to pump blood properly, resulting in the blood pooling in an area of the heart called the left atrial appendage and forming a blood clot.
Twenty percent of all strokes occur in patients with Afib.
Stroke is more severe for patients with Afib; they have a 70% chance of death or permanent disability.
The most common treatment for reducing the risk of stroke in patients with A-fib is the use of blood-thinning warfarin therapy.
Watchman offers a potentially life-changing stroke-risk treatment option that can free patients from the challenges of long-term blood-thinner use – among them, dietary restrictions and regular blood monitoring. And warfarin therapy carries a significant risk for bleeding complications.
Linda Mankey, 73, of Amwell Township, was diagnosed with Afib in 2018, and was placed on Xarelto.
Xarelto can be expensive, but the cost of the medication didn’t bother Mankey as much as the increased risk of bleeding did.
“I was still very active – I’m still active – and I just was leery about the things that can happen to you on a blood thinner. I was worried about doing something that would result in my bleeding,” said Mankey, pastor at East Buffalo Presbyterian Church.
Mankey talked with her cardiologist, Dr. James Richardson, about the Watchman procedure, and in February 2021 she underwent the procedure.
“Now, I’m going about my life in an active way, just as I did before I was diagnosed (with Afib),” said Mankey, a longtime volunteer at Washington Hospital. “The next morning, (doctors) said I was good to go and I could get off Xarelto. That’s some of the best news I’ve heard.”
The Watchman device procedure is minimally invasive, and is delivered by catheter.
The device itself is about the size of a quarter and can’t be seen outside the body.
For Mankey – who has served in churches for more than 34 years and spent nearly two decades in prison ministry, and is involved in several volunteer activities at WHS – the Watchman offers her the chance to keep on serving and volunteering.
“That’s the best part,” said Mankey. “I feel the call to give something back to the community. Now I can do what I love to do and not feel like I have any restrictions. I’m too busy to not feel good.”