Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are performing a new procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heartbeat.

Available at only a handful of U.S. medical centers, this “hybrid” procedure combines minimally invasive surgical techniques with the latest advances in catheter ablation, a technique that applies scars to the heart’s inner surface to block signals causing the heart to misfire. The two-pronged approach gives doctors access to both the inside and outside of the heart at the same time, helping to more completely block the erratic electrical signals that cause atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation affects more than 2 million Americans, a number that continues to increase as the population ages. While not fatal in itself, patients who suffer from atrial fibrillation are at increased risk of stroke and congestive heart failure. And many, especially those who feel the fibrillations, have shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue and feelings of anxiety, among other problems.

“For some patients, it’s a difficult way to live,” says Phillip S. Cuculich, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a cardiac electrophysiologist who treats patients with atrial fibrillation at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.