Health care
BY KAMERYN GRIESSER
St. David’s pioneers heart treatment
The bigger picture
Currently, St. David’s Medical Center is the only one of six St. David’s HealthCare locations to offer the treatment. Eventually, Natale said he hopes the PFA system will evolve to be able to treat a wider range of heart arrhythmia conditions.
The Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at Austin’s St. David’s Medical Center was the first hospital in the U.S. to use a new treatment for heart arrhythmia following final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January. Heart arrhythmia is a condition most common among middle-aged patients that causes irregular heart beats, increasing the risk for stroke and cardiac failure. Doctors Andrea Natale and Amin Al-Ahmad from the TCAI were among 67 global operators chosen to begin testing the technology in 2021. Following its approval, the treatment can now be used at hospitals across the country. The treatment, called pulsed field ablation, delivers electrical pulses to cardiac tissue to destroy cells causing irregular rhythms, making small scars or ablations, according to
Treating arrhythmia Traditional methods use heat or cold to disrupt irregular heart signals, but pulsed field ablation:
Does not use heat or cold energy
Uses short electrical pulses to destroy cells
Is considered safer than other methods of ablation Typically results in fewer complications post-procedure
This historic milestone represents the biggest advancement in the electrophysiology field in
decades, as it will allow patients to be treated more safely and effectively, ultimately restoring their quality of life. DR. ANDREA NATALE, TCAI
SOURCES: MAYO CLINIC, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, ST. DAVID’S MEDICAL CENTER & TEXAS CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA INSTITUTE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
a news release. Previous systems used excessive heat or cold to destroy the cells, which could damage surrounding tissue, the news release said.
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