Electrophysiology is future of treating heart diseases, says specialist

Stating that the guidelines would help Indian healthcare service providers and government agencies in dealing with health issues, medical education and research and also to promote excellence in treating cardiovascular patients, Dr Karthigesan, Consultant Cardiac Electrophysiologist at Apollo Hospital and the organising secretary for the conference said, “The technological advisors, nursing staff and the paramedics involved in the cardiac catheterization for electrophysiology procedures and the pacemaker clinics were benefited by the scientific session.”

Although Tamil Nadu is far ahead of the other states in terms of awareness, cognizance on electrophysiology continues to be poor.

“People think, to treat the heart we have only bypass surgeries and angioplasty, with simply no awareness of the existence of the separate field called electrophysiology and the various facilities available for treatment under this field,” said the doctor, adding that there are facilities to help make the heart beat faster.

Ensuring that the doctors are aware of the advancements and its benefit for patients is the need of the hour. “It is very important for physicians to understand what advancement will benefit which kind of patient so that when they come across such patients, they will know what procedure to follow, what medication to be prescribed, which is why the conference was held,” said Dr Karthigesan. Stating that the most important aspect is to understand the genetic basis of arrhythmias to prevent heart failure, the doctor said, “Sessions at the conference dealt with the anatomic basis of arrhythmias, identifying the causes of sudden cardiac death, devices to improve patients with heart failure and advanced technology in pacemakers.”

Over 500 cardiac electrophysiologists, cardiology post-graduate students, and paramedical staff took part in the interactive sessions, case presentations, demonstrations of troubleshooting techniques, and presentations on the latest technology in electrophysiology.

“Considering that electrophysiology has been greatly impacted by use of devices, TN EPIC 2018 served to provide opportunities for the participants an opportunity to learn the basis of cardiac electrophysiology and hands-on experience of implantable cardiac devices. The scientific sessions that marked the conference, benefited technologists, nursing staff and the paramedics involved in the cardiac catheterization for electrophysiology procedures and pacemakers clinic,” added Dr Karthigesan.

Stressing on the existence of a new technology called smart test technology, he added, “We have acquired the latest technology. We now have a smart test technology with 3D mapping which increases the accuracy. It was one of the technological advancements which we focused on in this conference.”