HCA Florida Largo Hospital cardiologists were the first in the state to successfully remove a tumor from inside a patient's heart without open heart surgery.
Cardiologists used the SEATTLE procedure — an acronym for Simplified Extraction of Atrial Tumor with Targeted Loop Electricity — which uses a specially designed catheter with two loops and a mesh to catch the tumor. The procedure was performed on an 86-year-old woman and was the 10th operation of its kind, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
The first SEATTLE operation was performed in 2022.
"Our ability to safely excise a cardiac tumor without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass or open-heart surgery represents a breakthrough in the field of structural heart interventions. Procedures such as this allow us to offer innovative treatment options to patients who may not be suitable for traditional surgery," Saurabh Sanon, MD, a structural interventional cardiologist and regional medical director of structural heart therapies for the West Florida Division of HCA Florida Healthcare, said in a hospital news release.