But they grew steadily worse, striking as often as three times a week and lasting as long as three hours. I'd get nauseous and almost pass out. It was taking a toll on my marriage and my work. During the procedure, cardiologists insert several wires into the heart to find the tissue that's causing the heart to beat abnormally. If the procedure is successful, the patient's heart rate returns to normal, so there's no need for medication or an implanted pacemaker.
Doctors have more weapons than ever to fight stroke and heart disease.
Democrat Catheter ablation is one of many recent innovations that have revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke. Doctors also are implanting new varieties of stents, tiny metal devices that keep blood vessels open and reduce the need for coronary-bypass operations. At diagnostic centers, technicians are using such new tests as carotid ultrasonography, a noninvasive test that predicts the risk of heart disease and stroke by measuring the thickness of the walls of two major neck arteries. In early February, Barber performed the catheter ablation on Grismore. By then, Grismore was so incapacitated by attacks of tachycardia he could barely work.