Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - CH - 56

ASK THE EXPERT

Electrophysiologist
Pratik Patel, MD

PUTTING THE
FREEZE ON AFIB

Electrophysiologist Pratik Patel, MD, a Community Care
Network physician, discusses atrial fibrillation (AFib) and
treatment options available at Community Hospital in Munster

Q

What is atrial fibrillation?
AFib is an irregular heartbeat
that causes poor blood flow
in the upper two chambers of the heart.
With AFib, blood is not completely
pumped out, which can cause the
remaining blood to pool or clot, leading
to stroke, heart failure or other heartrelated complications. While AFib is not
considered to be a life-threatening condition, those with AFib are five to seven
times more likely to form blood clots and
suffer a stroke.

Q

56

FA L L 2 0 1 9

Q

What ablation techniques are available at
Community Hospital?
There are two main techniques used to
isolate the pulmonary veins: radiofrequency (RF) ablation and cryoablation.
In RF ablation, heat is applied to damage
the tissue, whereas in cryoablation, the
tissue is destroyed by freezing it with
extreme cold. Community Hospital's
Cardiac Care Center is the first in
Northwest Indiana to offer cryoablation
as another tool available toward successful treatment of AFib in patients.

APPOINTMENTS

Are You Struggling
with AFib?
Electrophysiologist Pratik
Patel, MD, is affiliated with
Community Hospital in Munster
and St. Catherine Hospital
in East Chicago. To make an
appointment at his office, 801
MacArthur Blvd., Suite 204,
Munster, call 219-836-7605.

PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

How is AFib treated?
Once accurately diagnosed, AFib
often can be treated with medications. If medication fails to control the
heart rhythm, catheter ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that prevents
unwanted electrical currents traveling
to the upper chambers of the heart.

Pulmonary vein isolation through ablation is the standard approach. During
catheter ablations, small areas of heart
tissue that are causing the irregular
heartbeats are destroyed. The resulting
lesions help restore the heart's regular rhythm.

Q

What is the difference
between RF ablation and
cryoablation?
Both types of ablation result in the formation of a lesion or scar tissue around
the pulmonary veins. Traditionally, RF
ablation uses a single pinpoint tip like a
pen to ablate the circumference of the
area one pinpoint at a time to ensure
that the whole area is encompassed and
there are not any gaps. Although every
patient is different, potentially this can
take longer. With cryoablation, a balloon
is inflated in the vein so that it makes
contact with all sides of the vein wall.
Then the balloon gets very cold and
ablates the entire circumference of the
vein with one application. Both procedures offer patients effective treatment
options for AFib. ■



Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - CH

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - CH

Contents
Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - CH - Cover1
Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - CH - Cover2
Vim & Vigor - Fall 2019 - CH - Contents
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