Treatment Options - Arrhythmias
Welcome and thank you for taking the time to visit our resource area that serves as an informational forum on heart conditions. The purpose of this section is to provide you with some basic information about irregular heartbeat and other cardiovascular conditions and to let you know more about your treatment options. Ultimate choices about healthcare are between you and your doctor, and we have provided resources to help you find a physician who has adopted the Stereotaxis technology.
Treatment Options:
Conventional therapy for irregular heartbeat usually begins with a specific type of medicine called an anti-arrhythmic drug. Drug therapies usually work in the beginning but often lose their effectiveness over time. Many of these drugs have significant side effects such as breathing problems, stomach problems, and discoloring of the skin.
For patients who fail or cannot tolerate these drugs, catheter ablation is usually the next step in treating irregular heartbeats. In an ablation procedure, the diseased tissue in the heart that is causing the arrhythmia is destroyed using an energy source such as radiofrequency delivered by a catheter that is threaded through the groin up to the heart. Prior to performing an electrophysiology ablation, a physician typically performs a diagnostic procedure in which the electrical signal patterns of the heart wall are "mapped" to identify the heart tissue generating the aberrant electrical signals. Following the mapping procedure, the physician may then use an ablation catheter to disable the diseased electrical path, restoring the heart to its normal rhythm.
For certain patients with chronic severe arrhythmia or who have failed a catheter ablation, surgical treatment may be necessary. In surgical treatment, a large incision or a series of operating “portals” are created and surgical instruments are inserted into the chest. The diseased areas of the heart are disabled using either surgical incisions or an energy source. In these cases, small portions of the heart may actually be amputated in order to prevent complications such as stroke.
A common treatment for many chronic (long-term) ventricular tachycardias consists of implanting a device called implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). This device is placed under the skin in your chest, like a pacemaker, and continuously monitors your heart's rhythm. If ventricular tachycardia occurs, the ICD applies an electrical shock to the heart to restore a normal rhythm. After a normal rhythm is restored, the device goes back to continuous monitoring mode.
Conventional therapy for irregular heartbeat usually begins with a specific type of medicine called an anti-arrhythmic drug. Drug therapies usually work in the beginning but often lose their effectiveness over time. Many of these drugs have significant side effects such as breathing problems, stomach problems, and discoloring of the skin.
