BOCA RATON – Physicians at the Christine E. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital are the first in Palm Beach County to offer the Arctic Front® Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system, the first and only cryoballoon in the United States indicated to treat recurring Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF) that is resistant to drugs.
PAF is a heart rhythm disorder that causes a quivering of the upper chambers of the heart leading to irregular heartbeats, which are usually at a faster pace than normal, that come and go, lasting minutes, hours or days.
Recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the innovative cryoballoon treatment is a special cardiac catheterization procedure by which the margins of the pulmonary vein (where PAF most frequently generates) are electrically isolated by producing a freezing linear scar. This line redefines the limits of the pulmonary veins isolating the abnormal electrical activity that causes PAF, blocking its path to the heart.
Unlike traditional ablation treatments that use radiofrequency or heat to destroy faulty electrical circuits in the heart on a point-by-point basis, the balloon-based technology of Arctic Front is novel because it ablates cardiac tissue through the use of a coolant rather than heat, delivered through a balloon catheter.
This freezing technology allows the catheter to adhere to the tissue during ablation, allowing for greater catheter stability and the capacity of generating a linear lesion along the pulmonary veins entrance in one application.
“The value of the new cryoablation technology over existing ablation methods is that it enables physicians to safely and effectively isolate the pulmonary veins with an efficient approach,” said E. Martin Kloosterman, MD, Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Electrophysiology Laboratory at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
“We have noticed that this technology allows for shorter procedure times and earlier and smoother patient recovery. Although we have yet to claim victory in the search of a treatment for the cure of atrial fibrillation, the cryoballoon technology is a significant step in that direction by broadening the patient population that may benefit from this procedure.”