The Cardiology Service at German Trias Hospital has pioneered in Catalonia the use of a new, safer and more effective technique to treat atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder in the world.
The technique, called PulseSelect, has been used in about a dozen patients since June. It involves ablation of the defibrillator using pulsed fields and a circular catheter, applying high-energy electrical discharges to the heart cells responsible for the arrhythmia. The system, recently approved in the United States and Europe, is innovative because it does not heat or cool the tissue to which it is applied. This eliminates the risk of damaging nearby structures such as the esophagus, lungs or phrenic nerve, and significantly reduces complications such as pulmonary vein stenosis, esophageal ulcers and atrioesophageal fistula, which are rare but potentially fatal complications.
Simple procedure and better healing.
This technique is also characterised by its simplicity and reduced intervention time. Thus, unlike others, only one catheter is used to access the heart through the femoral veins. In addition, the procedure no longer lasts more than an hour – with the consequent reduced use of anesthesia – and its learning curve is short, so specialists can perform it with excellence, quickly enough and with very homogeneous results.
With this new technique, it has been observed that the patient’s recovery is faster because when he wakes up after the procedure, he usually does not notice pain or discomfort and does not need to be given painkillers, as often happens when heat or cold. Applications are used. By reducing the time of the procedure, anesthesia and subsequent treatments, it is possible to consider a procedure without hospitalization and discharge on the same day.
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