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torrancememorial.org PULSE | 33 ST R A I G H T F RO M T H E H E A RT "I was getting them every week, sometimes more than once a week, and then two to three times a day, sometimes lasting for five hours," says Moreno. Using her in-home heart rate monitor, Moreno sometimes measured a heart rate of over 200 beats per minute (normal adult heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute). During one of these five-hour attacks, she decided to go to urgent care. ere she told the physician, "I feel like I'm going crazy." In retrospect, her decision to seek help during an attack was one of the best decisions she made. is time her EKG was abnormal and clinicians couldn't get an accurate pulse reading because it was so erratic. ey called an ambulance to take her to the ER . When the doctors were able to review her EKG again, she finally got a diagnosis: Supraventricular tachycardia or SVT. Tachycardia happens when electrical signals in the heart's upper chamber fire irregularly. Torrance Memorial has a minimally invasive treatment called cardiac ablation that can help reset the heart so normal rhythm may occur. Moreno was referred to Dr. Kosar. "Dr. Kosar described the procedure to me so I knew exactly what was happening," says Moreno. Doctors put a catheter in the groin, run it up to the heart, send electrical shocks to the heart to find out which section is amiss, and then cauterize (seal) or freeze that part of the heart so it ceases to cause the irregular rhythm. Once cauterized, they send another round of electrical pulses to make sure it took. Although the thought of having a heart procedure initially seemed intimidating, Moreno eventually approached the procedure without fear. "I was very confident from the moment I met Dr. Kosar that he knew what he was doing," says Moreno. Dr. Kosar notes that the EP department at Torrance Memorial has been performing catheter ablation for 15 years, with an impressive success rate. Because it was a minimally invasive procedure, it took just two hours. The main recover y concern is the healing of the incision in the groin, so Moreno was told not to lift or push anything over five pounds. "It was an easy procedure and I trusted Dr. Kosar entirely. e nurses were fantastic as well," says Moreno, who lives just a couple of miles from Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Moreno notes just how hard going undiagnosed for so long was for her and her family, including her husband and 18-year-old daughter. Being at home on disability and unsure of what to do once those funds ran out was a major source of stress, and the increasing frequency and severity of her heart pounding le her feeling hopeless. "Getting a diagnosis was great. It was like someone handing me an answer," says Moreno. "I had a two-hour procedure and feel like I get to start all over again. "It's an exciting moment in life for me." ADVANCES IN EP IMAGING During many electrophysiology diagnostic and treatment procedures, physicians use computer-based, high-definition imaging to gather three-dimensional pictures of the heart. In the electrophysiology lab, three new tools are providing a more accurate and detailed picture, leading to improvements in treatment. One is the Carto Univo system. "It allows for the seamless combination of fluoroscopy and 3-D mapping," says Erol Kosar, MD, one of the lead electrophysiologists with the Lundquist Cardiovascular Institute at Torrance Memorial. This combination results in the ability to minimize radiation exposure for patients and staff to the lowest reasonable limits. Another high-density mapping system is called the Orion, and it allows for quicker and more detailed maps of complex arrhythmias, says Dr. Kosar. Soon a treatment called rotor mapping will allow treatment of long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation. "Torrance Memorial is one of very few hospitals in the Western U.S. to have these advanced technologies," says Dr. Kosar. "GETTING A DIAGNOSIS WAS GREAT. IT WAS LIKE SOMEONE HANDING ME AN ANSWER," SAYS MORENO. "I HAD A TWO-HOUR PROCEDURE AND FEEL LIKE I GET TO START ALL OVER AGAIN. IT'S AN EXCITING MOMENT IN LIFE FOR ME."