The Hospital de La Ribera is launching a new unit of arrhythmias for diseases of the heart.

-Equipped with the highest technology this new unit represents an important qualitative leap in care for patients with cardiac arrhythmias, a suffering 15% of Valencians and pathology which may result in serious consequences such as stroke or sudden death

– this new unit is responsible for implementing all kinds of cardiac deviceslatest generation pacemakers or implantable defibrillators (ICDs), as well as diagnostic and therapeutic studies

Alzira, 2013 February.- El Hospital Universitario de La Ribera has launched, recently, a new unit of arrhythmias or cardiac electrophysiology, dependent on the service of Cardiology unit, and whose objective is to diagnose, treat and monitor patients who have any type of heart rhythm disturbance.

He is a unit equipped with the highest technology, only to the extent of large referral hospitals, which will allow a global approach and an approach to agile and optimal patients and by both an important improves care.

Cardiac arrhythmias (both quick or tachycardia, as slow or bradycardias) pose a growing problem in today’s society, diminishing the quality of life for people who suffer from them and causing sometimes serious consequences for patients, such as brain stroke or sudden death. Therefore, these patients require very skilled personnel and advanced technology to deal with his illness. It is estimated that 15% of the Valencians suffers from some type of arrhythmia.

The head of the service of Cardiology of the Hospital Universitario de La Ribera, Dr. Enrique Peris, highlighted the excellent operation of this unit since its inception in March, that is achieving a success rate of 96% in all procedures of varying complexity, which is carried out, with zero mortality, while some of these interventions have been made in very high risk patients ”.

According to Dr. Peris, cardiac electrophysiology, that is, the part of Cardiology which is responsible for studying the electrical activity of the heart and its anomalies, has experienced a spectacular growth in the world in recent years, being today a mainstay within the cardiology ”.

For its development, the arrhythmias unit of the University Hospital de La Ribera has optional specialists in cardiology/electrophysiology, with extensive experience in the treatment of arrhythmias, and nurses with specific training in cardiac catheterization and Electrophysiology.

The unit of arrhythmias of the Hospital de La Ribera during a procedure for ablation with neuronavegation.

Among its clinical activities, this unit is responsible for carry out complex electrophysiological study and radiofrequency ablation procedures, as well as implement and control all kinds of cardiac devices such as subcutaneous last generation, Holter pacemaker, implantable defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices.

In what refers to radiofrequency ablation, this unit has planned around 70 annual procedures, in order to solve different types of tachycardia. Radiofrequency ablation is to use a very thin catheters, guided by x-ray through the veins, to determine the point of origin of tachycardia and eliminate it through the application of radio frequency energy. In this sense, the Hospital de La Ribera has incorporated a browser not fluoroscopic which allows you to more accurately determine where originates the tachycardia by means of an electrical map of the heart.

Other procedures the arrhythmia Unit carried out to treat tachycardias, is the placement of implantable automatic defibrillators (ICDs). It’s a device that is placed on the chest, under the skin, and connected with a cable to the heart, which is responsible for continuously monitor if the patient suffers a disturbance of heart rhythm, in which case treats them automatically, using stimuli or electric shock.

As for cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, these are used in order to treat patients with heart failure who also have problems with electrical asynchrony of the ventricles of the heart. It is the implantation of a pacemaker that stimulates both ventricles to get the two to contract simultaneously, thus improving the symptoms of heart failure.

In order to perform all of these procedures, the arrhythmia unit has a query for clinic visits, monitoring and control of defibrillators and resynchronization devices and pacemakers, electrophysiology laboratory and a laboratory of cardioversion (electric shock to restore normal rhythm of the heart).

As pointed out by Dr. Peris, this unit has all the quality standards and requirements set by the Spanish society of Cardiology ”.