As was the case with Victor Ganske, much of the electrophysiologists' work would have been considered unbelievable just a few years ago. And there is more on the horizon, they say. Dr. Bailin, for instance, is studying how to correct atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the muscle fibers of the heart rapidly and irregularly contract. As a result, the heart beats erratically, forcing blood to one side of the heart, then to the other, instead of up and out as it should. There is a significant delay in getting the electrical signal from one side of the atrium to the other.
Pacing decreases the disparity and reduces the fibrillation.
Conventional therapy has been to install a pacing device in which electrical impulses are delivered to the right atrium. Dr. Bailin, however, thinks it makes more sense to deliver those impulses to the Bachmann's Bundle, a group of muscle fibers that go over the roof of the heart. The bundle is the only direct electrical connection across the heart. Dr. Bailin designed a study that involved his Iowa Heart Center colleagues and physicians from five other centers. Conventional therapy was used with some patients, the Bachmann's Bundle therapy with others.