Update on COVID-19 in Transplantation: from Travel to Treatment
On May 24, 2022, the Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Center held a virtual, fireside chat to share the latest updates on COVID-19 and transplantation.
Safe Care CommitmentGet the latest news on COVID-19, the vaccine and care at Mass General.Learn more
Contact Information
Corrigan Minehan Heart Center
55 Fruit Street
Boston,
MA
02114
Phone: 866-644-8910
Email: mghheartcenter@partners.org
Our dedicated physicians, nurses and staff are committed to providing the best possible care. We have taken unprecedented steps to ensure office visits, procedures and surgeries are welcoming and safe. Your health and safety is our top priority.
Doctors perform cryoablation to restore normal heart rhythm by disabling heart cells that create an irregular heartbeat. During this minimally invasive procedure, a thin flexible tube called a balloon catheter is used to locate and freeze the heart tissue that triggers an irregular heartbeat.
We have found that using cold, rather than heat, to disable damaged tissue reduces the chances of impacting healthy heart tissue and surrounding structures. Recent studies have found cryoablation to be significantly more effective than medication, and patients generally experience less pain than with radiofrequency ablation.
Learn more about how our physicians treat atrial fibrillation >Learn more about the Telemachus & Irene Demoulas Family Foundation Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias >
A doctor inserts the balloon catheter into a blood vessel, usually in the upper leg, and then threads it though the body until it reaches the heart. This narrow tube has an inflatable balloon on one end that engages the pulmonary vein. Using advanced imaging techniques, the doctor is able to guide the catheter to the heart.
Once the balloon is at the ostium of the pulmonary vein, extreme cold energy flows through the catheter to destroy this small amount of tissue and restore a healthy heart rhythm.
Most patients are treated with heat-based ablation using radiofrequency (RF) catheters, but this procedure has some risk of complications, such as esophageal injury. Cryoablation helps physicians avoid these risks by using cold instead of heat to disable abnormal heart tissue. Unlike heat-based ablation, cryoablation allows physicians to cool tissue to make sure it is the area causing an irregularity. If it is not, the site’s normal electrical function can be restored simply by allowing the tissue to thaw and re-warm.
The success rate of the procedure is generally very good, and depends on many factors, such as the duration of the condition, the presence of valve disease or coronary artery disease, the type of atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal or persistent) and the size of the atria.
However, like any other medical procedure, rare complications can occur. These complications include perforation of the heart, stroke, heart attack, narrowing of the pulmonary veins and bleeding at the entry site in the leg. Your physician will discuss all of these topics with you during your pre-procedure office visit.
Virtual visits allow you to conveniently meet with your provider from home—either online (over your computer or device) or by phone.
We are ready to care for you—whatever your health care needs may be. We are committed to providing the very best and safest care possible.
Our physicians welcome second opinion appointments to review cases and proposed lines of treatment.
On May 24, 2022, the Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Center held a virtual, fireside chat to share the latest updates on COVID-19 and transplantation.
Women who had experienced infertility had a 16% increased risk of heart failure compared with women who did not have an infertility history.
Advanced consumer technology has produced small electrocardiogram devices that could be efficiently deployed in point-of-care screening for atrial fibrillation, though the proportion of cases detected among all patients 65 and older is small.
Mutations in genes that direct the production of fibrillar collagens, essential components of blood vessel walls, appear to predispose individuals to SCAD.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women alike. In this presentation, Dr. Emily Lau reviews the epidemiology of heart disease in women, differences in heart disease between women and men, and special considerations for promoting female heart health.
“Thank you for your service” is a phrase shared with U.S. service members. But Mass General’s Shannon Stuart, RN, a commissioned officer with the Air National Guard, says she is the one who feels the need to share her appreciation.
Call us to learn more, or request an appointment online.