Pulsed Field Ablation

St. Mary Medical Center now offers FARAPULSE™ Pulsed Field Ablation system for treating atrial fibrillation.

Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) is a minimally invasive cardiac ablation procedure that uses a catheter to deliver quick pulses of electrical energy, which precisely target the source of irregular heartbeats. Until now, AFib has been treated with a procedure called thermal ablation, which uses extreme temperatures (heat or cold) to burn or freeze the areas in the heart causing abnormal heart rhythms.

PFA uses ultra-fast electrical impulses to target heart tissue and break up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats without heat or cold. These pulses create tiny openings in the cell membranes, causing the cells to die. This focused approach destroys only the heart cells causing the abnormal rhythm, sparing surrounding tissues and organs like the esophagus and nerves.

The nonthermal energy source is also called irreversible electroporation. PFA aims to provide a safer procedure with less inflammation, discomfort and a potentially quicker recovery compared to older techniques.