DC surgeon takes on AFib case of man born with heart on opposite side of chest

John Lock was born with his heart on the opposite side of his chest. It was never an issue until he developed atrial fibrillation — a common heart condition that put his life at risk and created a major challenge for doctors.

That’s when a D.C. surgeon stepped in to take on the case.

For most of his life, having his heart on the opposite side didn’t affect him. He had no symptoms, no limitations. He even competed in triathlons.

“I was always an athlete. I always ran hard, cycled hard, did lots of different activities,” Lock said.

In 2023, he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib) — an irregular, sometimes rapid heartbeat that can cause fatigue, shortness of breath or lightheadedness. His episodes became more frequent and lasted longer.

Medication didn’t solve the problem, and if left untreated, AFib can lead to blood clots, stroke and even heart failure.

Lock decided to move forward with a catheter ablation — a procedure in which doctors thread thin tubes through blood vessels into the heart and apply heat or cold energy to create tiny scars. These scars block the abnormal electrical signals that trigger the irregular rhythm.

But when doctors in Florida began the procedure, they ran into a problem.

“When they got in there, they realized I had other differences,” Lock said. “I had an extra vein that created a problem to get to the atrium to do the ablation.”

“The challenge with dextrocardia (a rare condition in which the heart develops on the right side of the chest instead of the left) is that it makes treating atrial fibrillation with catheters difficult — effectively, almost impossible,” explained Dr. Christian Shults from MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

A scary time for Lock after the sudden loss of his brother to a heart attack.

“I became very concerned about it at that point, even though my brother had never had any AFib. He was a perfectly healthy person,” Lock said.

Shults, a cardiac surgeon, took on the challenging task of repairing Lock’s heart — stepping in when no one else could.

He performed a seven‑hour procedure called hybrid atrial fibrillation convergent therapy, which combines two techniques to treat the heart from both the inside and the outside to block the abnormal electrical signals responsible for the irregular heartbeat.

 Shults says it’s not something you study in a textbook because Lock’s anatomy is so different than ours, essentially a mirror image of what’s normal.

“What was most important for me was the CT, the 3D reconstruction, so I could see his anatomy in order to understand what my approach would be and what needed to be done,” Shults explained. “Just looking at all the details and kind of generating a map in my head of how I would get there and what needed to be done was critically important.”

Shults has performed thousands of ablations throughout his career, but Lock was his first patient with dextrocardia, and he says the procedure was a success.

Now 61 years old, Lock no longer takes heart medication and says he’s back to doing what he loves and is grateful for time with his grandkids.

“Today I’m sitting here, feeling great. I haven’t had AFib since the procedure and am living my normal life. My grandkids are the best. Being able to spend time with them and grow with them, I’ve become a young person again, being able to see the world in a different way.”

Doctors say if you notice an irregular heartbeat, don’t ignore it. Early treatment can make all the difference.