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The HEART HOSPITAL of New Jersey at For 35 years, Bayonne resident Marie O'Rourke suffered from supraventricular arrhythmias, rapid heartbeats that would cause her heart to race up to 200 beats a minute. Twenty years ago, Mrs. O'Rourke was given a heart medication that she was required to take every six hours around the clock. If she missed even one pill, within two hours her heart would begin to race. Each night, Mrs. O'Rourke would set the alarm to go off at midnight and again at 6 a.m. so she could take her medication. "It was always like a cloud over my head," says Mrs. O'Rourke. "I had to plan for my medication all the time, especially on a trip. Without the medication, the palpitations would come and my chest would just pound until I could feel it in my ears." When her cardiologist, Robert Charney, M.D., told her of a new procedure that could permanently stop her palpitations without the need for any future medication, she was a little skeptical. However, after the procedure was explained to her by Marc Roelke, M.D., Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Saint Barnabas, Mrs. O'Rourke agreed to undergo an electrophysiology study with ablation (using a radiofrequency current to create a thermal burn) to cure her supraventricular tachycardia, a type of arrhythmia. Electrophysiology is a subspecialty of cardiology that focuses on the electrical aspects of the heart and the management of heart rhythm disorders. An electrophysiologic study (EPS) is a test of the electrical system of the heart. Using local anesthetics to numb areas in the groin or near the neck, small catheters are passed through these numbed areas to the heart. During the study, the heart is paced in various ways to assess the speed and location of the electrical pathways. Electrophysiologists interrupt the heart's electrical signals to 'map' the origin of arrhythmias and to determine the most appropriate therapy. Such therapies include antiarrhythmic medications, catheter ablation of abnormal electrical circuits, pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators During the procedure, Dr. Roelke positioned a special catheter on electrical tissue in Mrs. O'Rouke's heart, which had been causing an abnormal circuit, and applied a radiofrequency current. A thermal burn resulted, which Arrhythmias (abnormal patterns of heartbeat) of all types can now be treated by the Cardiac Electrophysiology Service at The HEART HOSPITAL at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. The Cardiac Electrophysiology Service is an integral component in a program that already includes a full complement of cardiac services. "This area of medicine is growing by leaps and bounds and the addition of electrophysiology at Saint Barnabas furthers its status as a full-service tertiary cardiac hospital," says Dr. Roelke, M.D. "Looking to the future, we expect to treat a growing population of patients with a variety of rhythm disturbances." The Inner-City Cardiac Demonstration Project created a unique partnership between Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center, both affiliates of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. The project established a new satellite cardiac surgery facility at Saint Barnabas and is licensed, operated and managed by The HEART HOSPITAL of New Jersey, the Saint Barnabas Health Care System's center for comprehensive cardiac care located at Newark Beth Israel. The revenues generated by the satellite facility at Saint Barnabas Medical Center will be used to benefit the community served by Newark Beth Israel by improving access to cardiac services. For more information or for an appointment with the Cardiac Electrophysiology Service, please call the Cardiac Cath Lab at Saint Barnabas at (973) 322-5098. [ top ] |
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