A new jolt to the heart
Advanced technology unveiled
NEW technology at St Andrew’s Hospital means patients will no longer have to travel to Brisbane for certain heart procedures.
The new offerings have been made possible by the recent start of new onsite specialist, electrophysiologist and cardiologist, Dr Shameer Ahmed.
Dr Ahmed’s speciality is in abnormal rhythms of the heart called arrhythmias.
“Arrhythmias can be experienced in different ways for different people. It can feel like your heart is racing, thumping or skipping beats,” he said.
“At times, these arrhythmias can be noticed during exercise, during a stressful moment or after having caffeine or nicotine.”
New equipment has been purchased by St Andrew’s Hospital to enable Dr Ahmed to introduce a range of advanced cardiac procedures to treat arrhythmias.
Previously these patients had to go to Brisbane to receive this treatment.
One patient who was saved a trip to Brisbane recently was 67-year-old Bernard Edwards, from Kleinton.
Mr Edwards had been experiencing heart arrhythmia and dizziness for several years and had been diagnosed with a cardiac condition called Supra Ventricular Tachycardia.
SVT is an abnormally fast heart rhythm due to malfunctioning electrical activity in the upper part of the heart.
Positioned in the theatre suite of the hospital, the equipment enables Dr Ahmed to create small electric pulses through cardiac catheters to make the heart beat at different speeds.
“Electrical signals produced by the heart are picked up by the special catheters and recorded. This allows me to locate where the arrhythmias are coming from.”
The next step is to produce radio-frequency energy to modify the small areas of heart tissue that are causing the rapid and irregular heartbeats.
Modifying this tissue helps restore the heart’s regular rhythm.
St Andrew’s has been supporting the local community with the only comprehensive cardiology service since 2002.