Covering Your Health: New Cardiology Technology – KADN

Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Technology at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette (CREDIT: NEWS 15)
Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Technology at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette (CREDIT: NEWS 15)
LAFAYETTE, La. (NEWS 15) — About 200,000 Louisiana residents are living with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation but there is a new treatment available locally to treat irregular heartbeat caused by AFib.
The cardiac lab at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center now possesses exciting new technology used to treat an irregular heart rhythm.
Dr. Patrick Welch is a cardiologist who specializes in heart rhythm abnormalities.
“It is faster, it’s safer, and it’s more effective and it allows us to offer the procedure to more patients sooner in the disease process,” said Dr. Welch.
So what is atrial fibrillation? It is a chaotic electrical rhythm that affects the heart. Normally, the electrical impulse starts high on the right. It moves in a coordinated circle around the right atrium, then down to the rest of the heart.
In atrial fibrillation, the impulse starts on the left and follows an uncoordinated, chaotic pattern. This, in turn, travels down to the rest of the heart, also in a chaotic pattern.
The new device targets this defective circuitry on the left.
“This technology uses high voltage current, which doesn’t heat the tissue, so it doesn’t damage anything that’s close by. It’s very specific for heart muscle tissue,” explained Dr. Welch.
Left untreated, atrial fibrillation can cause long-term fatigue, chest pain, and shortness of breath. More importantly, blood clots can form in the heart and travel throughout the body.
Atrial fibrillation is responsible for one in seven strokes.
“What I feel is revolutionary about this technique is that because of the safety and the speed that we can do it, it’s going to allow us to offer it to patients, maybe even without trying drug therapy initially,” added Dr. Welch.
It’s an exciting new technology that is treating a common but serious heart rhythm.
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