| For Immediate Release | Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan |
| May 2, 2005 | 508-961-5270 |
| brennanj@southcoast.org | |
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FALL RIVER, Mass. — Southcoast Hospitals Group has launched a cardiac electrophysiology program at its Charlton Memorial Hospital site, further broadening local access to advanced interventional and diagnostic heart services in the region.
Electrophysiology, or EPS, is a sub-specialty of cardiology that examines the electrical behavior of the heart and treats abnormal heart rhythms, known as arrhythmias. Southcoast's EPS program will also include the implantation of automatic heart defibrillators and pacemakers at the Charlton site.
"The cardiac electrophysiology laboratory at Charlton further expands the range of Southcoast Hospitals' cardiac services and broadens the region's access to a multitude of new and advanced heart services," said Ronald B. Goodspeed, MD, MPH, President of Southcoast Hospitals Group. "Similar to the open heart surgery program, we have recruited experienced and highly trained staff to provide the service."
Southcoast has partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to develop the program. Jeremy Ruskin, MD, Director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service & Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at Mass. General, has been named Medical Director of the Southcoast program.
"The collaboration with Mass. General will also be a very helpful resource for training personnel and keeping the program on the leading edge of new therapies for cardiac arrhythmias," Dr. Ruskin said. "Everyone from the medical and nursing staff to administration are very dedicated to this program's success."
About the Southcoast Hospitals electrophysiology program
The electrophysiology program is housed in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Charlton. A $2.1 million renovation project made room for the service and was planned with patient satisfaction, comfort and confidentiality in mind. The renovations included an additional lab, a private consultation room, additional holding space for patients, support space and a special ambulance entrance directly to the lab. The budget included $1.6 million for the highly sophisticated, specialized equipment needed to perform EPS.
"The study of the heart's electrical system is distinctly different from standard cardiac catheterization procedures, which focus on the arteries, valves and pumping chambers of the heart," Dr. Ruskin said.
There are wide ranges of heart rhythm abnormalities that may affect anyone from very young children to adults of all ages. While many arrhythmias are benign, others may result in symptoms ranging from palpitations, dizziness and fainting to sudden death. Modern electrophysiological techniques help diagnose these abnormalities with great precision and determine appropriate treatment.
The American Heart Association recommends aggressive treatment for certain types of arrhythmias in high-risk patients for the prevention of sudden death. http://www.americanheart.org/arrhythmia
Laurie Mulgrew, RT (R), (CV), (M), Director of Cardiac Interventional Services at Charlton, said the EPS program offers patients a wide range of treatment options.
"During an electrophysiology study, multiple catheters are threaded through one or more veins in the leg and placed in various sites within the heart. A specially trained cardiologist, called an electrophysiologist, interprets the electrical signals to evaluate the patient's symptoms and heart rhythm abnormality," Mulgrew said.
"Medications can be used to control heart rhythm abnormalities in many patients. In some cases the need for a catheter ablation procedure or an implantable device such as an automatic defibrillator or pacemaker is necessary."
Most cardiac arrhythmia patients that come to Southcoast will be treated at Charlton, with only the most complicated cases being referred to Mass. General, Dr. Ruskin said.
In April 2002, Southcoast became the first of three community hospitals in the state to perform open heart surgery, making this lifesaving surgery available locally for the first time ever. Southcoast launched the elective coronary angioplasty program the following November.
The Southcoast Hospitals cardiac surgery program, which is based at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, has incorporated the best training techniques and implemented the best technology and information systems from around the nation, building a first class program that is unsurpassed in quality. According to a Harvard Medical School study presented to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health there is "no statistical difference" between the 13 hospitals within the commonwealth that currently perform open heart surgery. To find out more about the prevention and treatment of heart disease and stroke visit http://www.southcoast.org.
About Southcoast
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and primary angioplasty beginning in Spring 2002.
Media Contact
Joyce Faria Brennan
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org
