Pre 2002 Press Releases

Cardiac Electrophysiology Service Opens at
Saint Barnabas Medical Center  

LIVINGSTON, N.J. -- For 35 years, Bayonne resident Marie O’Rourke suffered from supraventricular arrhythmias, rapid heartbeats that would cause her heart to race up to 200 beats a minute. Twenty years ago, Mrs. O’Rourke was given a new heart medication that she was required to take every six hours around the clock. If she missed even one pill, within two hours her heart would begin to race. Each night, Mrs. O’Rourke would set the alarm to go off at midnight and again at 6 a.m. so she could take her medication.

“It was always like a cloud over my head,” says Mrs. O’Rourke. “I had to plan for my medication all the time, especially on a trip. Without the medication, the palpitations would come and my chest would just pound until I could feel it in my ears.”

When her cardiologist, Robert Charney, M.D., told her of a new procedure that could permanently stop her palpitations without the need for any future medication, she was understandably skeptical. However, after the procedure was explained to her by Marc Roelke, M.D., Director of Electrophysiology at Saint Barnabas, Mrs. O’Rourke agreed to undergo an electrophysiology study with ablation to cure her supraventricular tachycardia.

During the procedure, Dr. Roelke positioned a special catheter on electrical tissue in Mrs. O’Rouke’s heart that was causing an abnormal circuit and applied radiofrequency current. A thermal burn resulted, which destroyed the tissue and solved the problem permanently, reports Dr. Roelke.

“It is just unbelievable,” says a relieved Mrs. O’Rourke. “It’s like a miracle.”

Arrhythmias of all types can now be treated by the new Cardiac Electrophysiology Service at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. With the opening of this new service, Saint Barnabas takes center stage as a complete cardiac facility able to address all needs of heart patients. The Cardiac Electrophysiology Service is the final component in a program that already includes cardiac catherterization, angioplasty and open-heart surgery. The HEART HOSPITAL of New Jersey at Saint Barnabas will use this new service to provide more options for a wider population of heart patients.

“This area of medicine is growing by leaps and bounds and the addition of electrophysiology at Saint Barnabas furthers its status as a full-service tertiary cardiac hospital,” says Dr. Roelke, M.D. “Looking to the future, we expect to treat a growing population of patients with a variety of rhythm disturbances.”

Electrophysiology is a subspecialty of cardiology that focuses on the electrical aspects of the heart and the management of heart rhythm disorders. An electrophysiologic study (EPS) is a test of the electrical system of the heart. Using local anesthetics to numb areas in the groin or near the neck, up to four small catheters are passed through these numbed areas to the heart. During the study, the heart is paced in various ways to assess the speed and location of the electrical pathways within the heart.

“An electrophysiology study assesses a patient’s tendency to develop potentially dangerous rhythms that may require treatment,” relates Dr. Roelke.

Electrophysiologists interrupt the heart’s electrical signals to ‘map’ the origin of arrhythmias and to determine the most appropriate therapy. Such therapies include antiarrhythmic medications, catheter ablation (elimination) of abnormal electrical circuits, pacemakers and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs).

A Tilt Table Test is used by electrophysiologists to uncover the causes of fainting. During this test, the patient is placed on a table that is tilted (head up) at 8- degrees for 30 to 60 minutes. This position can elicit the fainting response and help the physician choose the most appropriate therapy based on the results.

There are a variety of arrhythmias that can be treated through electrophysiology:

Supraventrical Tachycardia (SVT): Patients with SVT have an abnormal electrical pathway that starts in the upper chambers of the heart. These patients benefit greatly from EPS with radiofrequency ablation to eliminate the abnormal pathway.

Ventricular Tachycardia (VT): In this condition, the heart’s electrical signals originate from the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles) and cause an abnormally rapid heartbeat. When the heart beats too quickly, the organ cannot fill with blood, keeping the body from receiving oxygen, and may result in fainting spells, dizziness and eventual cardiac arrest.

Ventricular Fibrillation (VF): This condition evolves when many areas of the lower chambers try to signal the heart to beat, resulting in electrical chaos. The heart cannot pump blood and after several minutes, life cannot be sustained. Treatment of VF requires the use of an ICD, which delivers an electrical shock to the heart and resets it to the normal rhythm.

Bradycardia: Sometimes the heart beats too slowly when one or more of the heart’s electrical pathways function inappropriately. The patient may feel tired or faint. This condition can be treated with a permanent pacemaker.

Atrial Flutter and Atrial Fibrillation: In both situations, the abnormal electrical pathway(s) start in the atria, and the ventricles and atria no longer beat in synchrony. Atrial fibrillation has been experienced by both Bill Bradley and President George Bush and can be treated by electrophysiologists.

The Inner-City Cardiac Demonstration Project created a unique partnership between Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center, both affiliates of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. The demonstration project, approved by the N.J. Department of Health and Senior Services in 1998, was designed to strengthen the already established cardiac services at Newark Beth Israel as it built a needed cardiac program in the Livingston community. The project established a new satellite cardiac surgery facility at Saint Barnabas Medical Center which opened in May of 1999 and is licensed, operated and managed by The HEART HOSPITAL of New Jersey, the Saint Barnabas Health Care System’s center for comprehensive cardiac care located at Newark Beth Israel.  The HEART HOSPITAL of New Jersey offers programs in cardiac surgery, diagnostic cardiac catheterization, interventional cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology, and the state’s only operational heart transplantation center. The revenues generated by the satellite facility at Saint Barnabas Medical Center will be used to benefit the community served by Newark Beth Israel by improving access to cardiac services.

For more information or for an appointment with the Cardiac Electrophysiology Service at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, please call either Dr. Roelke’s office at (973) 322-8882 or the Cardiac Cath Lab at Saint Barnabas at (973) 322-5098.

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