07 October 2010
Bangalore, India
Heart Rhythm Disorders On The Rise
Watch out for subtle hints that your heart might give and you overlook. Apart from coronary artery disease, which is common among the middle and upper age groups, heart rhythm disorders or arrhythmia is one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). So much so that it has prompted Fortis Hospitals to launch a clinic solely dedicated to arrhythmia.
One can develop a heart rhythm disturbance if any part of this conduction system is damaged. Heart rhythm disturbance usually shows up symptoms like skipped heartbeat, fluttering, dizziness, and shortness of breath, periodic weakness or even sudden fainting. Sometimes if there is such a ventricular fibrillation condition, the patient could die in three minutes.
Chief cardiothoracic surgeon Vivek Jawali said in 1984 when he came to Bangalore, these disorders were usually corrected by placing a pacemaker. "Now there is a new breed of cardiologists who deal with various kinds of short—circuiting in the heart. The science to deal with such rhythm disorders has come a long way," he said.
What Causes It?
The causes for this kind of disease are many, including extra wires or accessory pathways inside the heart, abnormality in the electrical firing process, a diseased heart, valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy and others. Strangely, a sudden emotional outburst or drug abuse and even electrolyte disturbances could cause the problem. It also doesn‚t affect a particular age group and could manifest even when the baby is in the feotus or in an old man.
This clinic will feature a 3D mapping system to check the problems of the heart and will provide services like electrophysiology study and radiofrequency ablation, complex arrhythmia ablation, implantation of pacemakers, defibrillators, biventricular pacemakers, loop recorders, head up tilt table test, pacemaker and heart failure clinics and others.
Heart Of The Matter
- 50% of deaths due to CAD is due to ventricular arrhythimia
- 30 million Indians had CVD in 2003
- 3 to 4.5 lakh deaths due to SCA in US annually
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