The Electrophysiology program at Texas Children’s Hospital offers cutting-edge treatment for patients with heart rhythm abnormalities. Most of these abnormalities cause the heart to beat either too fast or too slow and can be dangerous if they cause a significant decrease in the heart’s ability to pump blood. There are many causes of arrhythmias including congenital heart disease, heart muscle disease, genetic disorders and others.
At Texas Children’s Heart Center, we offer a broad complement of diagnostic and therapeutic options to evaluate and manage heart rhythm abnormalities. We are one of the highest volume pediatric centers in the country for invasive electrophysiology studies and pacemaker/defibrillator implantations, and we maintain success rates for ablations that exceed the national average. Additionally, Texas Children’s Heart Center is one of the leading centers in the world for the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias in children and adults with congenital heart disease.
Treatment of Arrhythmias and Sudden Death in Children
The team has developed a multipronged approach to tackle and study arrhythmias and sudden death in children in the Houston community. First, educating the public and potential responders regarding arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest is paramount. As such, we have embarked on an ambitious campaign to educate and prepare the community and schools in the Houston area via our Project ADAM affiliate. The campaign’s goal is to certify all schools as “Heart Safe.” After more than doubling the number of Houston schools that are certified as Heart Safe, this upcoming year we are on target to have our first entire school district certified as Heart Safe. Additionally, with the help of a grant from the American Heart Association, we continue to provide schools with new Automated External Defibrillators.
Our team is also at the forefront of ongoing research to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of these arrhythmias and develop new diagnostic approaches and therapies. Using novel technologies, we are able to convert blood samples from patients into their own stem cells and subsequently into their own cardiac cells. When coupled with experimental platforms that allow for measurement of electrical changes and ion flow, we can explore the molecular causes of sudden death-predisposing arrhythmias in an unprecedented fashion. This may open the door for truly individualized, precision medicine that is custom tailored to these children.
Stereotaxis
As one of only a few pediatric hospitals in the U.S. with a remote magnetic navigation system for catheter manipulation, we have used Stereotaxis on over 250 ablation cases in recent years with excellent results. Magnetic navigation offers several theoretic advantages in the treatment of children. The catheter is more flexible and atraumatic than standard catheters, potentially eliminating the risk of heart perforation. It can also be navigated with more precision, allowing for movements as small as one millimeter or deflections as small as one degree. This may result in enhanced accuracy and safety during mapping and ablation of certain arrhythmias in this patient population.
Awards and Grants
- Electrophysiology team members have received multiple awards including the Baylor College of Medicine’s Research Mentorship Award, the Fulbright Educational Excellence Award in Teaching and a Career Award for Excellence in Clinical Care
- National Institutes of Health K23 Grant for study of the genetic basis of pediatric sudden arrhythmic death syndromes
- Cancer Prevention Grant for study of genetic causes of cardiotoxicity and arrhythmias with anthracycline and radiation exposure
- American Heart Association grant to provide AEDs for schools that are certified “Heart Safe”