July 10, 2003
SickKids uses new cardiac therapy to treat children with abnormal heart rhythms
TORONTO - Physicians at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) are using a new minimally invasive procedure to correct abnormally fast heartbeats (arrhythmia) in children who previously faced a high risk of heart block with other curative procedures.
The procedure, called cardiac cryoablation, involves inserting a thin catheter into the heart that freezes a small area of heart muscle at -75°C, enabling cardiologists to destroy the abnormal electrical connection responsible for causing the arrhythmia. Children recover within days of the procedure and no longer have to deal with the fear of the arrhythmia disrupting their daily activities. The advantage of cryoablation is that it allows cardiologists to safely test a particular location inside the heart by partially freezing it at -30°C. If there is a chance of heart block, they can warm the heart back to body temperature and continue the procedure until the right area causing the arrhythmia is located.
SickKids has performed more cardiac cryoablations in children than any other institution in the world (approximately 30), which accounts for about half of all reported pediatric patients worldwide.
"While we have had great success in the past in treating arrhythmias with traditional ablation, cryoablation greatly improves our ability to treat these patients both safely and effectively," says Dr. Joel Kirsh, staff cardiologist at The Hospital for Sick Children. "Prior to cryoablation, these children and their families faced a choice between living with the arrhythmia or potentially needing a pacemaker for the rest of their lives."
SickKids sees hundreds of children a year with fast arrhythmias, commonly referred to as supraventricular tachycardias (SVT). This condition occurs in children who are either born with an extra electrical connection between the top and bottom chambers of the heart or have an abnormality in the heart's usual conduction system. Most of these patients are suitable candidates to have their arrhythmias ablated.
One of the options SickKids has successfully used in treating children with SVT is to perform a radiofrequency ablation on the heart. This involves delivering heat energy through a thin catheter into the heart, which then destroys the abnormal connection and cures the arrhythmia. In situations where there is a risk of damaging the heart's normal pathway, cryoablation can now be used.
Since SickKids' cardiac ablation program was founded in the 1990s, there have been over 400 procedures performed on children at the hospital. Both radiofrequency ablations and cryoablations take two to four hours to complete and patients go home the next morning after sleeping off the effects of the anesthetic and being observed on a heart monitor. There are no stitches or incisions and children return to full activity within a few days.
The Hospital for Sick Children, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada's most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children's health in the country. Its mission is to provide the best in family-centred, compassionate care, to lead in scientific and clinical advancement, and to prepare the next generation of leaders in child health.
For more information, please contact:
Media Contact
Public Affairs
The Hospital for Sick Children
Phone: 416-813-6380
Fax: 416-813-5328