- More than three quarters of deaths related to heart disease and stroke occur in low- and middle-income countries.
- Atrial fibrillation is the most common, with up to 2% of the world population suffering from it.
- Electrophysiology is responsible for studying the electrical processes that take place in the heart, generally related to arrhythmic disorders such as palpitations, bradycardia or tachycardia.
Since March 2020, attention has turned to a disease that came as a surprise to the world: COVID-19. For a moment, other serious health problems were left aside and that, for years, have become a global public health problem: heart conditions that maintain high mortality rates across the planet.
Unfortunately, our country is one of the most prone to heart disease. According to INEGI, from January to June of last year, deaths from cardiovascular problems ranked second, reaching a total of 113,899, and only surpassed by COVID-19, which at that time reached 145,159 deaths. Third place went to a disease that is closely related to heart problems, diabetes mellitus, which registered 74,418 deaths.
In addition to the fact that, in the world, each year more people die from cardiovascular diseases than from any other cause. geographically, more than three-quarters of heart disease and stroke-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countriesall this according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The role of Cardiology today
In this regard, Edurne Sandoval, who is the medical manager of Johnson & Johnson MedTech Mexico, affirms that among the three deadliest diseases there are, two have to do with dysfunctions in the heart. Therefore, the work of cardiology as a branch not only of treatment but also of health prevention is essential.
Both in Mexico and in the world, cardiac arrhythmias, a type of cardiovascular condition that causes an irregular heartbeat, is one of the most frequent conditions and, among them, atrial fibrillation is the most common, with up to a 2% of the total population. It is estimated that it affects around 40 million people worldwide.
The biggest problem with this condition is that it is asymptomatic and silent. So, by not being treated or diagnosed in a timely manner, the atrial fibrillation it is a dangerous risk factor for other more lethal diseases such as ischemic stroke. It also causes a significant economic burden along with significant morbidity and mortality. From here arises the urgent need to be able to anticipate these sufferings.
Continuing with prevention, related to cardiology, there is a specialty that is still little known, but that offers an alternative to increase timely care for diseases related to heart rhythm in the short, medium, and long term, and it is the electrophysiology.
What does it consist of?
It is in charge of studying the electrical processes that take place in the heart, generally related to arrhythmic disorders such as palpitations, bradycardia or tachycardia. This specialty is highly related to technology because, to begin with, the electrical pulsations in the heart are invisible and can only be deduced through various signals.
Fortunately, in recent times the ability to locate areas of the heart where there are alterations has improved, allowing doctors to act on them in time and better treat arrhythmias, with safer and less invasive processes such as ablations.
Among the procedures carried out within the field of electrophysiology are pacemakers and monitoring through the use of devices, such as defibrillators, whose mission is to detect an abnormal heart rhythm and automatically reverse it, especially in cases of rapid arrhythmias, They are dangerous and can lead to death.
Within this type of implants are those for cardiac resynchronization, indicated for patients whose heart does not pump correctly.
In terms of preventive health and treatments, there is a continuous advance promoted by technology in order to improve the quality of life of people, for example, the electrophysiological study, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that is performed by catheterization and that can be used to treat all types of cardiac arrhythmias.
The study consists of a technique that achieves advanced exploration of cardiac activity. A catheter is inserted through the femoral vein directed toward the heart. Once inside, the origin of the tachycardia is observed and, then, that point is ablated so that it does not reproduce again.
When do we use this study? The electrophysiology study is recommended for adults with no age limit with conditions such as Atrial Fibrillation, which is the cardiac arrhythmia with the greatest presence in the population and causes problems that did not respond favorably to antiarrhythmic drugs. Most of the operated patients with this treatment they no longer need to continue with antiarrhythmic drugs, and the results are permanent.
In the same way it can be applied to people with other less frequent alterations. Such as atrial flutter, paroxysmal tachycardia, and pre-excitation syndromes, which are arrhythmias that develop in different parts of the heart.
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