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economist sunsuntribune saturday april 2 2005 17 jh muskdfo the beat goes on theres not much we cant deal with said southlake electrophysiologist dr zaev wulffhart we have the expertise and resources to tackle just about anything if it can be done we can do it here at southlake ifs that brand of confidence that draws patients from far and wide to the hospitals com prehensive arrhythmia program and one of the major reasons southlakes regional cardiac care program is regarded as one of the best in canada the newest subspecialty of cardiology the arrhythmia program provides a variety of sophis ticated techniques to detect and treat abnormal heart rhythms or irregular beating patterns of the heart dr wulffhart appointed as the programs medical director in 2001 leads a 12person arrhythmia team comprised of electrophysiolo- gists specialized cardiologists an acute care nurse practitioner technologists and registered nurses trained to work in the arrhythmia special- utilizing everevolving techniques and mod ern equipment the team is an integral part of the 400member regional cardiac care program the services provided by the growing team include electrophysiology studies eps which involves the insertion of catheters or thin tubes into regions of the heart to study the organs elec trical circuits using the latest in computer tech nology a threedimensional image is then creat ed which enables the electrophysiologist to locate the source of the abnormal heart rhythm once identified an ablation is performed to burn away the short circuit or pathway that is causing the problem despite its recent development the arrhythmia program has already achieved impressive mile stones in early 2002 the team implanted the first implantable cardioverter defibrillator icd at southlake a device used to treat people with life threatening heart rhythms in the summer of 2003 they implanted southlakes first biventricular icd successfully treating the patients heart fail ure symptoms and severe arrhythmia in january 2004 one of the worlds most sophisticated tech nologies known as carto mapping was used to cure a patient with a critically irregular heart for bruce and brian good the 59yearold identical twin leads of canadian country music hall of fame group the good brothers the music they write and perform has always come from the heart today some 31 years after their professional debut at the fabled riverboat in toronto it still does thanks to the professionals at southlakes regional cardiac care program despite a hectic lifestyle and canadawide and international tours the brothers have always maintained a healthy exercise regime in 2003 however bruce was diagnosed with right ventric ular displasia the potentially serious heart con dition called for the insertion of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator icd a small battery- powered device tucked under the skin near the collarbone with leads connected to the heart the sophisticated technology of the icd continually monitors the patients heart rhythm and automat ically delivers a shock to restore an irregular beat back to normal while the implant was performed at st michaels hospital in toronto newmarket resi dent bruce opted to have his followup care at southlake during a routine visit with arrhythmia services director dr zaev wulffhart bruce asked if he should have any concerns regarding the implant dr wulffhart who didnt really know much about my family said the only potential issues would be related to an identical twin because of the hereditary nature of the condition the light went off i called brian brian admitted he had experienced earlier episodes where his heart would race and beat irregularly i had learned to live with it but when bruces condition was diagnosed i went and had it checked out in march of 2004 brian was implanted with his own icd at southlake i went in and was home the next day said brian ifs no worse than having a tooth pulled vibrations the timing was fortuitous the good brothers recipients of numerous music industry honours and eight consecutive juno awards gave their next performance two weeks after brians procedure we were backstage in campbellford getting ready to answer an encore recalled brian i was sitting in a chair and the icd activated it only went off for an instant it knocked me to the floor afterwards i was fine the consummate musicians answered their encore as advised brian went to southlake the next morning and the arrhythmia team conduct ed tests including a painless computer hookup to retrieve the unifs detailed incident data they found i had a lifethreatening heart rhythm said brian the icd reacted as it should they made a few adjustments and i went home the potentially life saving experience was an epiphany for the twins my best advice to anyone worried about their heart is to seek help immediately dont ignore it and dont deny it said bruce brian echoes the sentiment recommending people should seek a referral to the cardiac care program at southlake if in doubt ifs state of the art and the people are at the top of their field he said they are truly caring pro fessionals recently back from an extensive european tour alls good for the brothers the peace of mind of having an icd is price less said bruce i liken it to having a cardiolo gist in my vest pocket if i need it i know i have some serious backup ever the entertainers the implants are a source of stand up fodder for the laid back lads our younger brother larry is in the band said brian we were thinking of changing our name to larry and the pacemakers bruce chimes in quipping ever time i sneeze my garage door opens rhythm during the same month the first pulmonary vein isolation pvi procedure was performed to cure a patient with atrial fibrillation a common condition that until recently could only be managed through a life time of medication therapy southlake is the first nonuniversity affil iated hospital in eastern canada to offer these services the respect earned by the program from peers and patients is justified the daily successes are almost standard fare for a team devoted to the utmost in patient care ifs our staff expertise said acute care jj nurse practitioner marianne beardsall they all bring a different mix of experience and skill we provide an excellent service to the region with ready access to a nurse practi tioner and several cardiologists we are very committed to finding the quickest way to get the patient treated and back to living a normal life dr wulffhart adds we are committed to com prehensive follow up our patients dont get lost thaf s unique to our program because we track them to make sure they are ok we customize or tailor the programming of every implantable device to suit the patients individual condition we dont just implant them and leave them at their standard settings from a technical perspective our strength is that southlake has some of canadas most highly trained physicians they have the expertise to per form extremely complex procedures that cannot mfflkanne beardsall acnp and tfezotv wulffhart electrophysiol- isoqist showcase southlakes state bflheort electrophysiology suite be offered at more established teaching hospitals because they dont yet have the experience to offer them to measure our progress we encourage patients and referring doctors to fill out satisfac tion questionnaires and they tell us that we have the shortest response times best outcomes and happiest patients in a nutshell ours are world class services that have excellent outcomes a heart beat is triggered by an electrical impulse that comes from the top chamber of the heart this impulse travels through special pathways in your heart and this impulse is delivered to all of the heart muscle in sequence when the electrical impulse reaches the heart muscle it contracts and causes the heart to beat electrical impulses normally travel in one direction and move through the heart in a wavelike form your heart beats about 1 00000 times in one day and about 35 million times in a year during an average lifetime the human heart will beat more than 25 billion times give a tennis ball a good hard squeeze when you do this youre using about the same amount of force your heart uses to pump blood out to the body even at rest the muscles of the heart work hard twice as hard as the leg muscles of a person sprinting feel your pulse by placing two fingers at pulse points on your neck or wrists the pulse you feel is blood stopping and starting as it moves through your arteries as a kid your resting pulse rate might range from 90 to 1 20 beats per minute as an adult your pulse rate slows to an average of 72 beats per minute what is am abmoi some people have extra electrical pathways in the heart that allow the impulses to move in a circle instead of in one direction this can set up a short circuit which causes rapid heart beats known as palpitations patients sometimes need to go to the emergency department to have the short circuits stopped ablation cauterizes or burns these short circuits so that patients are cured of palpitations sometimes abnormal rhythms begin in irritable tissue in the heart and take over the hearts rhythm these can also be ablated but require specialized equipment to locate the source of the irritation fast rhythms coming from the lower chambers of the heart can be life threatening and patients sometimes receive implantable cardioverter defibrillators to protect them arrhythmia program facts southlakes arrhythmia program offers the most advanced procedures available to cure irregular heartbeats many of these procedures are not currently offered in any other communitybased hos pital in eastern canada in 2004 southlakes arrhythmia program performed 390 permanent pacemaker insertions 110 icd implants 71 electrophysiology studies 261 electrophysiology studies with ablations 41 pulmonary vein isolation procedures 2878 visits were made by patients to receive followup and testing of their cardiac devices ie icds and permanent pacemakers southlake m c i o h i i it alt ii c1iiik 5 davis drive newmarket 90589s4521 website wwvsouthlflkercgionalorg a fwji shofv expf mxko southlake wishes to thank the following sponsors m eat healthy exercise remain smoke free jncb wwwvincesmarketcom 9054788241 s rornc 1icioii ntwtraftrt chout