A new arrhythmia department has been established at the Kitano Hospital Cardiac Center. Many people may still be unfamiliar with the term arrhythmia department.

When you hear the term arrhythmia, what do you imagine?

Do you have impressions such as "palpitations," "abnormal electrocardiograms," and "sudden death"?

"Arrhythmia" is one of the symptoms of heart disease, and is known to be related to many other heart diseases. It has been reported that nearly 40% of outpatients with cardiovascular diseases have problems related to arrhythmia. Research into arrhythmia has also progressed rapidly, with significant progress over the past decade.

On the other hand, because information related to arrhythmia is specialized and complex, misconceptions and outdated thinking can lead to problems such as "causing unnecessary worry to patients" and "not providing appropriate treatment."

In this situation, the presence of specialists with extensive experience in arrhythmias is becoming essential in facilities providing advanced, specialized medical care for cardiovascular diseases, both in Japan and overseas. Therefore, there is a trend toward establishing arrhythmia departments to provide more specialized arrhythmia treatment. In response to this situation, our Heart Center has also decided to establish a new arrhythmia department specializing in arrhythmia treatment.

Now, let me introduce some of the specific treatments we offer.

Specialized Treatment

With the support of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department and the introduction of cutting-edge equipment such as the CART system, catheter ablation treatment for tachyarrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia began in April 2008. This treatment can be a more fundamental treatment than drug therapy, and has been performed in nearly 200 cases to date. We have also introduced implantable cardioverter-defibrillator surgery for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac synchronized therapy for severe heart failure.

Advanced Medical Care

We participate in large-scale clinical trials both in Japan and overseas, and are involved in creating new guidelines for arrhythmia treatment. Furthermore, we are collaborating with Kyoto University Graduate School and Shiga University of Medical Science to conduct genetic research into arrhythmia-related diseases and clarify the relationship between genetic abnormalities and clinical arrhythmias. We are utilizing the results of these research in our clinical practice.

Finally, while arrhythmia is one of the important symptoms of heart disease, at the Kitano Hospital Cardiac Center Arrhythmia Department, we do not limit ourselves to arrhythmia alone; we take a deeper look at each patient's background and provide medical care without relying solely on invasive treatments. If you have any problems related to arrhythmia, please feel free to consult us.

We have an arrhythmia outpatient clinic on Tuesdays, but if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us directly and we will respond as soon as possible.

Kitano Hospital Cardiac Center, Chief of Arrhythmia
Tetsuya Haruna