First
in the Country- Launch of the latest Catheter technology for arrhythmia
treatment
Hyderabad, March 25th 2016:
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common electrical disturbance of the heart
(Arrhythmia), especially in the aging population.
The major effects of AF are
due to clot formation in the heart and its squeal including a brain stroke,
clots in various arteries of the body.
AF also can lead to heart failure due to
the rapid heart rates causing breathlessness and fatigue. People with
underlying heart disease can develop heart attack, as also loss of
consciousness.
“In our country, with increasing
longevity, unhealthy lifestyle and cardiac risk factors like Hypertension,
Diabetes, Obesity, Smoking etc, the incidence of AF is growing exponentially.
Even as the western countries are faced
with a huge burden of healthcare costs due to AF, imagine the financial stress
it causes not only on the exchequer but also on the individuals and society at
large as many patients are not covered by insurance/ schemes and the sequelae
are serious, thus making AF management very important.”
As with most conditions, AF is also managed medically
initially. Once a patient fails medical therapy, the cornerstone of AF
management is invasive therapy called Atrial Fibrillation ablation.
What is AF ablation?
During this procedure, we enter the
heart through the groin with catheters and burn certain areas of the upper
chambers of the heart called the Atria. For this purpose we re-create the
anatomy of the chambers of interest by 3D mapping and then proceed to ablate
(burn). The chambers are very thin and sometimes just a millimetre thin.
We have to use certain force to ensure
the tissue is destroyed. Less force could lead to poor results and more force
could lead to perforation of the chambers in weak areas leading to a serious
condition called cardiac tamponade where blood collects just outside the heart
causing hemo dynamic instability.
How do we ensure better success and lesser serious
complications?
Technology has helped us in moving to
safer ways of performing ablation. The latest in the field of ablation is
CONTACT FORCE sensing. Special catheters with this technology can actually tell
the physician how much pressure is being applied. There are certain areas in
the heart which are thinner than the rest. This technology can actually show us
the amount and the direction of force being applied and thus could avoid excess
pressure helping prevent perforation and also help avoid less force leading to
better local tissue damage and better lasting success.
“Having used this system while abroad, I
have immense faith in this technology. Our eager wait is answered. The first
ever 2 patients treated in India using CONTACT FORCE technology (TactiCath,
SJM) for atrial fibrillation on 15thMarch, have been discharged
after very successful procedures”
“Contact Force sensing is the Technology
of Future, in the field of arrhythmia ablation. This technology has been shown
in various studies to reduce ablation time, X-ray radiation exposure, lower
complications and also improved success”
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