Northwestern Medicine is First in Illinois to Offer Pulsed Field Ablation to Treat Atrial Fibrillation

Dr. Knight 1st pulsed field ablation - 3.5.24

CHICAGO — Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the first hospital in Illinois and among the first in the country to offer pulsed field ablation, a revolutionary advancement in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. This minimally invasive approach to treating atrial fibrillation (AFib) offers patients improved safety and efficacy compared to traditional therapies. The procedure occurred on Tuesday, March 5. 

“Pulsed field ablation is an exciting advancement in the treatment of AFib because it’s very fast and very effective,” says Bradley Knight, MD, medical director of cardiac electrophysiology at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute . “This approach allows us to deliver very high voltage, very brief electrical shocks to ablate the tissue causing the arrythmia. It seems to be very selective for this tissue, so that it avoids injury to structures behind there, like the esophagus, the phrenic nerve, the lung tissue and other organs very close to that tissue.”

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common type of heart arrythmia impacting up to 5 million people in the United States, a number that is anticipated to reach 12.1 million by 2030.

“There’s really an epidemic of atrial fibrillation worldwide because aging is one of the causes of the condition,” says Dr. Knight. “Obesity is another common cause, so with these epidemics themselves, AFib is increasingly common.”

cas-pulseselect-generator-catheter

The heart rhythm disorder is characterized by fast and irregular heartbeats, or arrythmias, from the upper chambers of the heart. AFib can significantly impact patients' quality of life and increase the risk of stroke, blood clots and other complications. Symptoms include can lead to a variety of symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue and heart palpitations.

“Patients who are symptomatic and have recurrent episodes of atrial fibrillation that cannot be controlled with medications are good candidates for pulsed field ablation,” says Dr. Knight. “This new energy source may allow us to not only do the procedure more quickly, more safely, and more effectively, it may also allow us to ablate a more extensive area in the atrium then we can currently do with thermal energy sources.”

Unlike conventional catheter ablation techniques that use heat or cold to create scar tissue and disrupt abnormal electrical signals in the heart, pulsed field ablation delivers precisely controlled electric fields to target and ablate tissue responsible for AFib. This innovative approach offers several potential advantages, including reduced risk of complications, shorter procedure times, and improved outcomes for patients.

The approach was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January after extensive clinical trials. Northwestern Medicine participated in two of the clinical trials that lead to FDA approval.

"We are thrilled to be the first hospital in Illinois to offer pulsed field ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and the only Chicago center involved in the research," says Dr. Knight. “This innovative technology represents a significant advancement in the field of electrophysiology and underscores our commitment to providing the highest standard of care to individuals living with AFib."

While pulsed field ablation might not be the right choice for every patient, the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute’s Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders offers a comprehensive range of therapies for AFib and other arrythmias. For more information, visit heart.nm.org.

B-ROLL/SOUNDBITES/PHOTOS: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/pdtsa2752cxv74liba534/h?rlkey=ddqze6m5gw1ge97r4kud5ao65&dl=0.