Ablation gets heartbeat back in rhythm
From Submitted Reports July 19, 2011 5:26PM
Doctors at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center can perform a procedure called atrial fibrillation ablation, which can correct an erratic heartbeat. | The Associated Press
JOLIET — When 68-year-old Phillip Ragusa of Joliet was first diagnosed with atrial fibrillation back in the 1990s, medication was one of the only treatments available.
The now-retired Joliet police captain developed the abnormally fast heart rhythm following triple bypass surgery in 1993. To control his erratic heartbeat, doctors tried several different drugs—eventually settling on Cordarone, which proved effective.
Unfortunately, there was also a downside.
“They told me Cordarone could cause vision problems, scarring in my lungs and even turn my skin blue if I was out in the sun too long,” Ragusa recalls.
For several years, Ragusa took Cordarone and two other powerful drugs without incident. As an added precaution, he also underwent yearly lung screenings. Then the side effects started.
Cordarone commonly causes deposits to form in the cornea of the eye, leading to “halo vision.”
For patients with this condition, looking at bright lights at night is like looking at the moon through fog. “I stopped driving at night,” he said.
Ragusa, who owns a vintage car and routinely shows it at area cruise nights, had to curtail his hobby for nearly seven years because he couldn’t drive home in the dark. What’s more, doctors who saw Ragusa for other medical reasons often “raised their eyebrows” in concern when he gave them a list of the medications he was on.
Worried about the long-term health risks, Ragusa began searching for a better solution.
New medical treatment
That’s when he heard about a procedure called atrial fibrillation ablation at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center.
When he asked his cardiologist, Dr. Eugene Chiu, about it, Chiu referred him to Dr. Ahmad Abdul-Karim, a board-certified cardiologist with Heartland Cardiovascular, who specializes in electrophysiology, or the heart’s electrical system. Karim also serves as the medical director of the Electrophysiology Laboratory at the medical center.
“Dr. Karim said I was a candidate for the procedure,” Ragusa said. “I had it done in the fall of 2009.”
Many other patients like Ragusa have benefitted from the ablation procedure since it was introduced at the medical center in 2008.
Renee Billich of Plainfield is one of them.
For 48-year-old Billich, shortness of breath was the first clue something was wrong. A member of the clinical resource team at Provena Saint Joseph, Billich started feeling tired, no matter what time of day it was. Walking from the parking lot to her office left her winded and without energy. Initially, she brushed it off as spring allergies.
One day, when she complained to some co-workers who are registered nurses, they took her pulse and told her to go the emergency department right away. There, doctors admitted her and began running tests. Eventually, they diagnosed her with atrial fibrillation.
Like Ragusa, Billich tried medication. She also underwent a cardioversion procedure that uses a therapeutic current of electricity to jolt the heart back to a normal rhythm. Neither worked.
Finally, she had an ablation procedure at Provena Saint Joe in March 2010, and that took care of the problem.
Minimally invasive procedure
Nearly 3 million Americans have atrial fibrillation — an erratic, rapid heartbeat that’s disturbing enough to impact a person’s life. Left untreated, it can damage the heart and lead to stroke or death. Another 200,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Americans older than 40 have a one in four chance of developing atrial fibrillation. Risk factors include high blood pressure, heart valve disease, coronary artery disease and heavy alcohol use.
Though several medications are effective at controlling the condition, they’re often associated with unpleasant, even dangerous, side effects if used long term.
One of the most effective treatments is minimally invasive atrial fibrillation ablation. During the ablation procedure, the heart tissue causing the abnormal rhythms is isolated, using radiofrequency energy.
“These interventions eliminate the source of the troublesome heart rhythm,” Karim said. “Prior to ablation, complex mapping of the heart’s conduction systems allows an electrophysiologist to pinpoint—and then isolate—the troublesome electrical activities.”
Ablations are used to treat atrial fibrillation and other irregular heart rhythms, including atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and most types of ventricular tachycardia. Provena uses sophisticated Carto-navigation mapping technology. The 3D electro-anatomical system assists electrophysiologists by providing highly detailed views of the heart’s electrical activity in real time on 3D, color-coded cardiac maps. The system also ensures precise real-time tracking of catheter location, allowing for safe and accurate diagnosis.
Ablations are performed under general anesthesia in the center’s electrophysiology laboratory. Most patients stay overnight or go home the same day.
For Ragusa, atrial fibrillation ablation was the solution he’d been looking for. The procedure “cured” his problem, which meant no more powerful medications with risky side effects. Even better, the vision loss he suffered while taking Cordarone was temporary. Several months after he stopped taking it, Ragusa could once again drive at night.
Billich also has a renewed emphasis on her health, logging miles on her stationary bike and her walking shoes.
“My problem came on so suddenly,” she said. “But when I had the ablation, there were no more issues. If I hadn’t gone to the ER that day, I know it would have worsened. I’m so glad my co-workers talked me into it.”
Ablation gets heartbeat back in rhythm
From Submitted Reports July 19, 2011 5:26PM
Doctors at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center can perform a procedure called atrial fibrillation ablation, which can correct an erratic heartbeat. | The Associated Press
JOLIET — When 68-year-old Phillip Ragusa of Joliet was first diagnosed with atrial fibrillation back in the 1990s, medication was one of the only treatments available.
The now-retired Joliet police captain developed the abnormally fast heart rhythm following triple bypass surgery in 1993. To control his erratic heartbeat, doctors tried several different drugs—eventually settling on Cordarone, which proved effective.
Unfortunately, there was also a downside.
“They told me Cordarone could cause vision problems, scarring in my lungs and even turn my skin blue if I was out in the sun too long,” Ragusa recalls.
For several years, Ragusa took Cordarone and two other powerful drugs without incident. As an added precaution, he also underwent yearly lung screenings. Then the side effects started.
Cordarone commonly causes deposits to form in the cornea of the eye, leading to “halo vision.”
For patients with this condition, looking at bright lights at night is like looking at the moon through fog. “I stopped driving at night,” he said.
Ragusa, who owns a vintage car and routinely shows it at area cruise nights, had to curtail his hobby for nearly seven years because he couldn’t drive home in the dark. What’s more, doctors who saw Ragusa for other medical reasons often “raised their eyebrows” in concern when he gave them a list of the medications he was on.
Worried about the long-term health risks, Ragusa began searching for a better solution.
New medical treatment
That’s when he heard about a procedure called atrial fibrillation ablation at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center.
When he asked his cardiologist, Dr. Eugene Chiu, about it, Chiu referred him to Dr. Ahmad Abdul-Karim, a board-certified cardiologist with Heartland Cardiovascular, who specializes in electrophysiology, or the heart’s electrical system. Karim also serves as the medical director of the Electrophysiology Laboratory at the medical center.
“Dr. Karim said I was a candidate for the procedure,” Ragusa said. “I had it done in the fall of 2009.”
Many other patients like Ragusa have benefitted from the ablation procedure since it was introduced at the medical center in 2008.
Renee Billich of Plainfield is one of them.
For 48-year-old Billich, shortness of breath was the first clue something was wrong. A member of the clinical resource team at Provena Saint Joseph, Billich started feeling tired, no matter what time of day it was. Walking from the parking lot to her office left her winded and without energy. Initially, she brushed it off as spring allergies.
One day, when she complained to some co-workers who are registered nurses, they took her pulse and told her to go the emergency department right away. There, doctors admitted her and began running tests. Eventually, they diagnosed her with atrial fibrillation.
Like Ragusa, Billich tried medication. She also underwent a cardioversion procedure that uses a therapeutic current of electricity to jolt the heart back to a normal rhythm. Neither worked.
Finally, she had an ablation procedure at Provena Saint Joe in March 2010, and that took care of the problem.
Minimally invasive procedure
Nearly 3 million Americans have atrial fibrillation — an erratic, rapid heartbeat that’s disturbing enough to impact a person’s life. Left untreated, it can damage the heart and lead to stroke or death. Another 200,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Americans older than 40 have a one in four chance of developing atrial fibrillation. Risk factors include high blood pressure, heart valve disease, coronary artery disease and heavy alcohol use.
Though several medications are effective at controlling the condition, they’re often associated with unpleasant, even dangerous, side effects if used long term.
One of the most effective treatments is minimally invasive atrial fibrillation ablation. During the ablation procedure, the heart tissue causing the abnormal rhythms is isolated, using radiofrequency energy.
“These interventions eliminate the source of the troublesome heart rhythm,” Karim said. “Prior to ablation, complex mapping of the heart’s conduction systems allows an electrophysiologist to pinpoint—and then isolate—the troublesome electrical activities.”
Ablations are used to treat atrial fibrillation and other irregular heart rhythms, including atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and most types of ventricular tachycardia. Provena uses sophisticated Carto-navigation mapping technology. The 3D electro-anatomical system assists electrophysiologists by providing highly detailed views of the heart’s electrical activity in real time on 3D, color-coded cardiac maps. The system also ensures precise real-time tracking of catheter location, allowing for safe and accurate diagnosis.
Ablations are performed under general anesthesia in the center’s electrophysiology laboratory. Most patients stay overnight or go home the same day.
For Ragusa, atrial fibrillation ablation was the solution he’d been looking for. The procedure “cured” his problem, which meant no more powerful medications with risky side effects. Even better, the vision loss he suffered while taking Cordarone was temporary. Several months after he stopped taking it, Ragusa could once again drive at night.
Billich also has a renewed emphasis on her health, logging miles on her stationary bike and her walking shoes.
“My problem came on so suddenly,” she said. “But when I had the ablation, there were no more issues. If I hadn’t gone to the ER that day, I know it would have worsened. I’m so glad my co-workers talked me into it.”