Erratic Heart Rhythm Left Him Exhausted

Walter Caldwell had been raising cattle outside Asheville, North Carolina USA, for over 35 years when an erratic heart rhythm began making him exhausted. Walter was unable to even carry a small piece of wood. His doctors placed him on medicine, but he didn't improve, and eventually Walter had to give up his cattle business.

In early 2005, Walter underwent a surgical cardiac ablation procedure using St. Jude Medical's Epicor™ Cardiac Ablation System. The Epicor Cardiac Ablation System's unique high intensity focused untrasound (HIFU) technology allows physicians to safely and effectively ablate cardiac tissue from the outside of a beating heart without placing the patient on a heart-lung bypass machine. Using this less-invasive approach, physicians deliver HIFU energy across the heart's wall to create very precise and contiguous lines of cardiac tissue ablation.

Today Walter loves chopping wood, doing chores, and chasing his grandson around the house.