North Richland Hills – Patients undergoing electrophysiology ablation, or EP ablation, procedures at Medical City North Hills for arrythmia may benefit from new technology that reduces the chance for future procedures to restore heart rhythm. Medical City North Hills is the first hospital in North Texas to offer this innovative technology.
EP ablation procedures work to restore a patient’s normal heart rhythm by using heat or cold energy to create tiny scars that block irregular cardiac signals. Ablations are performed using very thin, flexible catheters inserted through veins to the heart. The new technology enables physicians to see minute, abnormal heart rhythms, or arrythmia, during EP ablation procedures. In some cases, other equipment and technology may not have been sensitive enough to detect these imperceptible details during an ECG, resulting in the patient requiring future ablations.
“This new technology can increase the ability to identify the circuit and treat the arrythmia during a patient’s EP ablation, enabling additional corrections in real-time,” says William Nesbitt, MD, medical director of electrophysiology at Medical City North Hills. “Reducing the possible need for additional ablations is another quality of life enhancement for the patients who turn to cardiology services at Medical City North Hills for expert and high-quality care.”
AFib affects more than 12 million people in the U.S. and results in over 450,000 hospitalizations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While some people do not have symptoms, others may experience:
- Irregular heartbeat
- Heart palpitations
- Lightheadedness
- Extreme fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
Ablation may be recommended for patients with symptoms that have not improved with medication or treatments.
About Medical City North Hills
Medical City North Hills is a 164 bed, acute care hospital located in North Richland Hills, Texas. With a medical team of more than 500 physicians, Medical City North Hills offers a broad range of services including a Level III Trauma Center, full-range of cardiovascular services, comprehensive orthopedic and spine programs, neurology program, graduate medical education program and an internal medicine residency clinic. Medical City North Hills is part of Medical City Healthcare.
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