By Charlie Levin
The leading cause of death in the US is heart disease. This stems from poor diets, suboptimal amounts of exercise, and many other factors: genetic, environmental, habits, and more. Regardless of its cause, though, it is a major problem facing the country and the world today.
One such variation, a very common heart condition, is known as atrial fibrillation (AFib). This is a condition in which the heart beats at an irregular pace, sometimes with dangerous pauses or murmurs. This is exactly what doctors listen for with a stethoscope, as it can be very dangerous and life threatening. If your heart is beating off rhythm, oxygen and nutrient supply to your cells could be inhibited.
Many common medications are used to treat less severe versions, like beta blockers, which alter the electrical pulses throughout your heart, blood thinners, to prevent clots from forming within blood vessels, and even pacemakers, an implanted device used to stimulate a consistent heart rhythm.
However, when it becomes really severe is when the danger starts. Unnaturally long pauses between beats could make one feel lightheaded or begin to faint, while an irregular heartbeat can put extra pressure on your lungs, lead to a buildup of fluids, and a lack of nutrients and oxygen for your cells.
In these more severe cases, doctors have been trying to figure out what to do. And, recently, there has been an intriguing breakthrough.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) just came out with a potential new treatment: pulse field ablation. According to a press release, this treatment is an electricity-based version of radiation therapy, similar to what is used to treat cancers.
When a patient suffers from AFib, it is the myocardium, the electrical tissue of your heart, that is acting up. A lead doctor on the project, Dr. David Frankel, M.D., states “ PFA more specifically targets the myocardium we are trying to ablate, with less chance of damage to the esophagus and nerves, which has been a concern with older methods.” (UPenn).
In other words, these electrical pulses remove excess myocardial tissue that causes an AFib heart rhythm. This can allow the heart to get back on track and the atria (upper chambers) to correctly contract keeping pace with the ventricles (lower chambers).
What makes it even more encouraging is that this new procedure is much simpler and takes less recovery time than traditional fixes, like pacemakers. While pacemaker procedures could keep you in the hospital for a week or two, pulse field ablation is just an overnight stay in the hospital.
This revolutionary new treatment may just be the future of cardiac medicine.