Briefs: Cryogenic treatment of heart diseases

Russia has made its first steps in the cryogenic treatment of heart arrhythmia. A new method was recently implemented by specialists at the V. A. Almazov Federal Heart, Blood and Endocrinology Centre in St. Petersburg. Cryotechnology is used for the treatment of auricular fibrillation, which is one of the most widespread types of arrhythmia. Tens of thousands of people suffer from this disorder in St. Petersburg alone, and hundreds of thousands of people are affected all over Russia. Such an arrhythmia often leads to an attack in which the heart immediately stops beating. Dmitry Lebedev and his team at the Centre of Heart, Blood and Endocrinology are freezing the sections of the cardiac muscle involved in this pathology. The method makes it possible to eliminate auricular fibrillation and fibrillar arrhythmia, both of which are severe disorders. The cryoablation methods implemented reduce operation time, lessen the risk of complications, obviate the need for lifelong treatment with expensive anti-arrhythmic drugs and make it possible to treat large numbers of patients. http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/05/12/7721065.html