One moment you feel fine. The next, your heart is racing at almost double the pace. Atrial fibrillation affects more than two million Americans. Although it is the most common arrhythmia, medicines for the condition only work about half the time. Now, researchers are testing a new tool that may help put a patient’s heart back on track.

56-year-old Tom Calvaresi is the driving force behind his family winery. So when his heart started feeling funny, he didn’t ignore it. "I felt it flutter a bit. Kind of like if you overuse a muscle, you can feel it jumping around a little bit in your arm. Well, I felt this in my chest," Calvaresi says.

Doctors diagnosed Calvaresi with atrial fibrillation. It’s a condition that occurs when the heart’s electrical pulses "short-circuit," causing changes to the speed or rhythm of the heartbeat. Left untreated, atrial fibrillation can increase the risk of stroke. The disorder threatened Calvaresi‘s livelihood.

"I have to be able to drink wine in order to be in this business and be at the top of my game, and alcohol is one of the triggers," Calvaresi says.

Right now, surgeons use what is called a catheter ablation to turn pulmonary vein tissue into scar tissue so electrical pulses can’t get through. Doctors make dozens of lesions in a dotted pattern around the vein. But it’s not always a success.

"When the swelling goes away, even a small gap interferes with that barricade and renders it harmless and the atrial fibrillation is able to recur," David Callans, M.D., a cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, says.

Dr. Callans is testing a new system designed to stop the recurrence of atrial fibrillation using high-intensity focused ultrasound. "It’s deployed on a balloon. The balloon can fit around the top of the pulmonary veins and make an entire circle around them at once," Dr. Callans says.

He says with this procedure, the ultrasound is delivered very precisely and does not damage other tissue. And since there is no potential for gaps in the scar tissue, Dr. Callan says the symptoms of atrial fibrillation shouldn’t come back.

It took three traditional ablation procedures to make Calvaresi’s symptoms go away. Now, he’s says it’s good to know a new kind of help may soon be available if his heart problems come back. "I’m certainly not ready to retire, yet," Calvaresi says.

Dr. Callans says the clinical trial involving the high-intensity focused ultrasound is the last step before FDA approval. The same technique is already used to treat certain cancers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

David Callans, M.D.
david.callans@uphs.upenn.edu