HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Durbin family learned their daughter, Amelia, was sick but had no idea how severe the problem was.
"I knew that her heart was beating very fast and irregularly," said Samantha Durbin, Amelia's mother.
Recommended Videos
Doctors diagnosed Amelia with a heart arrhythmia, a problem with the heart's electrical system. It can cause dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and chest pain. In Amelia's case, it was life-threatening.
"When we got to the hospital, the electrophysiologist actually said this was the worst arrhythmia he's ever seen and scheduled surgery within a couple of days," Durbin remembered.
Doctors used a specialized 3D system to map Amelia's heart.
"We use three-dimensional imaging by the computer like a GPS system," explained Ming-Lon Young, MD, Medical Director of Electrophysiology at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida.
Doctors create a real-time view of the heart by inserting a tracking catheter. When the doctor moves the catheter, tracking devices on, or near the patient, pick up the movement. The system helps doctors pinpoint problems.
"They were able to go in and find the area that they needed to ablate through the 3D mapping," Durbin said.
It put Amelia on track for a full recovery.
3D mapping for heart arrhythmias also limits the dosage of radiation on patients meaning less risk of dangerous side effects like cancer or leukemia.
Additional Information:
On average, the heart beats at least 100,000 times each day. The heart is a strong muscle that provides blood throughout the circulatory system. For patients with arrhythmias, the rate at which the heart beats is too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia) or beating irregularly out of rhythm. In the majority of arrhythmia cases, the condition is harmless but some patients' hearts may not pump enough blood to the rest of the body and organs. Arrhythmias are typically caused by a misfiring of electrical impulses and give the patient a feeling of fluttering in the heart, lightheadedness and chest pain. (Sources: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-arrhythmia/basics/definition/con-20027707, http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/AboutArrhythmia/About-Arrhythmia_UCM_002010_Article.jsp, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/arr/)
TREATMENTS: Mild arrhythmias are considered harmless and are usually left untreated by doctors. In more severe cases, if the doctor considers the symptoms to be life-threatening, they may set a treatment plan using one of these options:
- Antiarrhythmic drugs: These medications are given through IV in emergencies or taken orally in long-term treatment plans. Drugs like Norpace, Procan, and Quinidine, are used to help regulate the heartbeat and prevent future arrhythmias.
- Defibrillators: Similar to a pacemaker, defibrillators are surgically placed under the skin in the chest and give a shock to the heart if the beat becomes irregular.
- Catheter ablation: Catheter ablation surgery is a procedure to treat the electrical cause of arrhythmias. The doctor threads catheters through the heart's blood vessels and using radiofrequency energy, the electrodes on the catheter create an electrical block in the pathway. (Sources: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/arr/treatment, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001101.htm, http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/PreventionTreatmentofArrhythmia/Prevention-Treatment-of-Arrhythmia_UCM_002026_Article.jsp)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: New technology using 3D mapping techniques is helping patients with arrhythmia receive the most effective treatment in ablation surgery. Medical Director of Electrophysiology at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Ming-Lon Young, MD, treated a 15-month old child, Amelia, for her severe arrhythmia. Using the Velocity Navix mapping system, Dr. Young was able to create a 3D visualization of multiple intracardiac catheters. This system was used to reduce the amount of radiation used on the patient and causes fewer complications after surgery. Before Amelia's surgery, she collapsed and had to be resuscitated using an automated external defibrillator, or AED, several times. After the surgery, Dr. Young says her prognosis is excellent and believes she is cured. (Source: Ming-Lon Young, MD)