Ascension Seton Hays opens electrophysiology cath lab

KYLE — Ascension Seton Hays Hospital, which currently serves as the highest-level trauma hospital for the Hays County area, has recently amplified its patient treatment with the opening of a fourth catheterization lab.

Although the hospital already has three of the labs, the fourth features electrophysiology equipment, allowing for procedures of heart rates to now be performed in Kyle.

"This state-of-the-art equipment augments our ability to diagnose and treat a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. Adding EP capabilities, alongside our skilled interventional cardiologists and heart surgery program is a true asset to the community," said Dr. Josh Pozos, chief medical officer.

The practice of electrophysiology is the study of tests to examine the heart’s electrical activity, which controls the heart rate of patients. According to electrophysiologist Dr. Kristopher Heinzman, doctors that specialize in this practice regularly work on pacemakers, defibrators and do procedures called ablations.

Ablations is a procedure which uses small burns or freezes heart cells to cause scarring, breaking up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats.

Both Dr. Heinzman and Dr. Josh Davis performed the first ablation in the lab and despite doing thousands of procedures before, this time was special.

Dr. Heinzman has been with Ascension Texas Cardiovascular for the past 13 years, serves as a professor at Dell Medical School and is the assistant program director for the school’s Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program, but this is the first time he hasn’t had to send patients elsewhere for their care.

“[There are] a large number of patients with other [types of] arrhythmias, but predominantly symptomatic atrial fibrillation and these patients, prior to the opening of this lab would have to travel into Austin to get their care and, in particular, their procedures. Now, those procedures can be done right here in Kyle; the majority of the time they go home the same day,” said Heinzman.

According to the Mayo Clinic, atrial fibrillation causes the heart’s upper chambers to beat chaotically and irregularly, becoming out of sync with the lower chambers. Symptoms include a fast, pounding heartbeat, shortness of breath or lightheadedness.

“These procedures are often in our patients who are older and those are the patients who like traveling the least, so they’re very happy that their family doesn’t have to take them in,” he said. “[They’re] able to get the same treatment, the same therapy that they would be offered there, but right next to home.”