 What makes for excellence in heart care? It starts with one of the most amazing teams of heart surgeons and cardiologists that I've seen assembled under one roof and the region's leading technology in a new $40 million facility. This is the nationally recognized Heart and Vascular Institute of Eastern Kentucky at Pikeville Medical Center. Pikeville Medical Center revealed a new procedure for treating atrial fibrillation on Tuesday, January 24th. Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm coming from the top chambers of the heart where the atria, quiver, or fibrillate, which is where we get the name. Atrial fibrillation has a variety of issues that come along with it. The one we talk about the most is a significantly increased risk of stroke. There is an on average 500% increased risk of stroke in an atrial fibrillation patient. The hybrid procedure for AFib is a two-step procedure in which a cardiothoracic surgeon and an electrophysiologist work together to ablate both the inside and outside of the posterior atrial wall. Hybrid AFib procedure is one of the cutting-edge therapies for atrial fibrillation and there are only a handful of centers both in Kentucky and nationwide doing it. We are number two in the state in terms of volume for hybrid AFib procedures and we're actually top 20 in the country for patients treated by the hybrid AFib procedure. So we're doing this a lot. We are seeing some fantastic outcomes for our patients because of it as well. Atrial fibrillation is a very common condition and with an effective treatment option so close to home those living with the condition will not have to go far to get the treatment they need. For Mountain Top News, I'm Kelsey Dean.