Cape Town - A nine-year old patient with heart rhythm abnormalities has become the first child to benefit from a new electrophysiology laboratory at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.
The girl was treated at the laboratory on August 15 and discharged the next day.
Electrophysiology is used to find the cause, location and best treatment of irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), which can become life-threatening if untreated. It is performed using a catheter inserted into the heart via a vein or artery.
Although this therapy has been available for many years at Groote Schuur Hospital and other centres in Cape Town, the recent purchase of the equipment by the Western Cape government for Red Cross has allowed children with rhythm disorders to be treated in a child-friendly environment.
The hospital has become the first in the country to offer paediatric electrophysiology (EP) studies, with full back-up from a paediatric cardiology unit, anaesthetics and the ICU unit.
Dr Rik de Decker said paediatric use of electrophysiology had been a “resounding success”.
“The nine-year-old patient is well and we have stopped all four of her cardiac medications as a result of the procedure.”
The young patient would be able to lead a normal life without taking medication.
“In time we hope to become a centre of excellence for paediatric electrophysiology studies,” said De Decker. - Cape Argus