New lab for treating irregular heartbeat issues opens at CHOMP

The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) has brought in new technology to treat irregular heartbeats. The Tyler Heart Institute has opened an electrophysiology lab with imaging, measuring and archiving systems as well as 3D heart mapping technology.

This will be used to treat atrial fibrillation and other types of irregular heartbeats. The condition is common enough in people over the age of 65 that the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology predicts that it will become an epidemic among baby boomers in the next 10 to 20 years.

CHOMP says the new lab will help treat those conditions by looking at the heart’s rhythms in real time. It is also one of the few facilities in the U.S. with a new jet ventilator that minimizes the motion of breathing.

“As we’re working inside the heart, the lungs are moving as the patient breathes,” says Dr. Steven Fowler, a cardiac electrophysiology specialist recruited to serve as medical director of clinical cardiac electrophysiology, “The ventilator makes the patient breathe in small puffs, which maintains oxygenation in the body while minimizing lung and heart movement so we can work in a very safe, efficient way.”

Arrhythmias can be treated in several ways, but there will be two new devices: the Micra for those with slow heartbeats, and Watchman for people with atrial fibrillation.

The Mira is a pacemaker that is about 90% smaller than traditional pacemakers. It is not tethered to skin or soft tissue and does not have wires that could break over time. It is controlled remotely, so patients have more mobility.

The Watchman reduces the risk of strokes and lets many of those with atrial fibrillation stop taking blood thinners.

“All of this is part of this next wave of technology in the field of heart rhythm disorders, ” Fowler says. “Creating a smaller footprint in the body by doing more effective work with less material.”