Diagnoses and treatments

Arrhythmia, or heart rhythm disorder, is the generic name for a number of different conditions in which the rhythm of the heart functions abnormally. Rhythm disorders can be anything from innocuous and asymptomatic to life-threatening conditions caused by serious heart disease.

For around 25 years it has been possible to treat arrhythmia with so-called ablation. Ablation entails eliminating the area of tissue that is causing the arrhythmia using a
special catheter that delivers energy. The method has revolutionised cardiac healthcare and thousands of patients have been cured and enjoyed an improved quality of life. Previously, it had mainly been patients with some form of congenital disorder of the heart's rhythm who had been treated using ablation, but just in the last ten years methods have been developed to treat patients with atrial fibrillation, too.

Atrial fibrillation is the commonest disorder of the heart rhythm that requires treatment. Between one and two percent of the population has this disease, i.e. between 100,000 and 150,000 people in Sweden. The proportion rises with increasing age. Atrial fibrillation affects around 10% of the population over the age of 80, though many younger patients, too, suffer from the complaint.

Atrial fibrillation causes the upper chamber of the heart (the atrium) to beat in a fast and uncontrolled way (fibrillation). This affects the flow of blood through the heart,
which causes an irregular pulse and a feeling of discomfort in the chest. Many people are so severely affected that they are unable to work or carry out day-to-day tasks. There are studies which show that the risk of premature death is markedly higher when atrial fibrillation is present. The reasons for this are not entirely known, but can be explained in part by an increased occurrence of heart failure, stroke and cardiac arrest.

ACS has chosen to invest in the very latest technology and is the first centre in Sweden to perform ablations using magnetic navigation, Stereotaxis. Stereotaxis has developed from a type of robot technology whereby the catheters used for the ablation are guided by a magnetic field which can be controlled using a computer. This allows the precision and stability of the catheter to be markedly improved compared to the more traditional manual method. Other benefits are that the risk of complications is less and the radiation dose significantly lower.