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Heart Mapping
The Regional Heart Institute of OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center is the first hospital in the region to offer Advanced Non-Contact Heart Mapping, a new minimally invasive way to treat arrhythmias.

Dr. Mark Hiser, a member of Rockford Cardiology Associates and independent physician with the Regional Heart Institute, has been performing this procedure successfully at OSF Saint Anthony for more than a year. An estimated 4.3 million Americans suffer from cardiac arrhythmias, which are abnormally slow or fast rhythms caused by a disorder in the heart's normal electrical activity. Arrhythmias cause nearly 250,000 deaths each year.

Heart Mapping is minimally invasive and allows cardiologists to eliminate the source of the irregular heartbeat. During the procedure, the cardiologist inserts a catheter in an artery in the patient’s upper thigh and guides it to the heart chamber where the arrhythmias occur. Once in place, a small mesh "balloon" is opened and acts as a radio receiver.

The electrical signals within the heart that regulate the heartbeat are received and recorded on a computer. Within minutes, the cardiologist creates a three-dimensional picture of the heart chamber and then identifies the exact origin of the arrhythmias. The source of the irregular heartbeat is then treated using ultrasound or radiofrequency.

The entire procedure takes less time than it takes to complete a conventional heart mapping procedure. This new technology will save some people from more expensive and invasive treatments such as an implantable deliberator.

According to Dr. Hiser, the procedure offers many other advantages. "It allows us to get a three-dimensional view of the entire heart chamber in just a few minutes. Many patients who were unable to tolerate the conventional heart mapping procedure can tolerate the advanced procedure and be treated for their arrhythmias," he added. "Advanced Non-Contact Heart Mapping also allows us to find multiple points of origin for arrhythmias."