Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute and St. David`s Medical Center Launch State-of-the-Art Training Center

The new training center is one of many EP advancements recently announced by St. David s Medical Center. This includes the installation of several new clinical technologies such as the Stereotaxis Niobe ^® system and the Sensei Robotic Catheter System in 2007. St. David s Medical Center is one of two facilities in the United States to offer both technologies. It is also important to note that in today s EP environment, very few physicians are able to treat patients with atrial fibrillation due to the complexity of cases. This new training facility will increase the potential to educate more physicians about atrial fibrillation ablation techniques and other challenging procedures. It is the mission of St. David s Medical Center and Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute to train the entire EP community, including national and international physicians. The initial training program was sponsored by St. Jude Medical (SJM). However, in order to meet the increasing demand for EP training at all levels, additional programs will be available in partnership with several other EP companies, including Boston Scientific, Biosense Webster, Medtronic, Hansen Medical and Stereotaxis. The initial TCAI/SJM training program, entitled Patient Selection and Management for Device Therapy, was very successful. The faculty included TCAI physicians Joe Gallinghouse, MD, Javier Sanchez, MD, Rodney Horton, MD, Shane Bailey, MD and Robert Canby, MD. In addition to the faculty, Mark Kroll, PhD also presented; he is widely recognized as one of the world s leading inventors of implantable medical devices. The lecture topics included were Indications for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT), Mechanisms of CRT, Techniques & Tools for Successful CRT Implants and Managing the Patient Post Implant. All attendees, including national and Latin American physicians, were impressed with the quality of the program. St. David s Medical Center also added the capability to broadcast live cases anywhere in the world, and TCAI is planning to offer off-site training opportunities as well. TCAI will be hosting multiple courses in the near future focusing on new technology in EP, specifically, therapy related to AF ablation. TCAI is also a high-volume extraction center, and will be training for laser lead extractions with Spectranetics. Together with TCAI, St. David's Medical Center will become a world-class facility for the management of cardiac arrhythmias. Future physician programs will include an AF program in April 2008. During programs, presenting physicians will share their experiences with visiting clinicians, enabling them to return home with knowledge and skills that can be directly applied to their practices. Each experience is tailored to the individual's continuing education and career goals. In addition, all attendees will have the opportunity to obtain CE and CME credits. Upcoming Classes at TCAI IBHRExAM Prep Course (EP) - February 2008. During this course, expert Heart Rhythm Society prep faculty will help attendees prepare for the IBHRE exam. EnSite (ESI) NavX System Workshop - March 2008. Upon completion, attendees will be able to: 1) Bring the system up and understand the difference between LAT and bipolar voltage maps; 2) Be able to acquire mapping points; and 3) Be able to work with reps on building maps. Basic / Fundamentals of Cardiac EP - April 2008. The course covers the following: conduction in the heart; arrhythmia: bradycardia and tachycardia; heart blocks; mechanisms of tachyarrhythmia; a systematic approach to interpreting electrograms; components of an EP study; and an overview of ablation procedures. Prucka System workshop. This workshop is scheduled for June 2008. Mechanics of an EP Study - September 2008. Upon completion of this course, the participants will be able to: 1) Demonstrate an understanding of nursing care involved immediately prior to an EP study and nursing care involved during a study; 2) Describe sterile protocol and radiation safety; 3) Recognize the correlation between intracardiac electrograms and the surface EKG; 4) Understand the baseline intervals and what they represent and why they are important, as well as be able to identify abnormal intervals; 5) Define the pacing protocols involved during a basic EP study and the mechanism involved in determining a diagnosis; 6) Be able to identify and interpret electrograms of different types of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardias; 7) Understand the difference between reentrant and automatic tachycardias; 8) Identify electrograms during ablation of specific tachycardias; 9) Practice interpretation of EKGs pertaining to electrophysiology; and 10) Understand syncope diagnosis and treatment. Advanced Cardiac EP - October 2008. Upon completion of this course, participants will: 1) Study ICDs and Bi-V therapy: indications, implant techniques, and basic programming; 2) Understand the mechanism involved in determining a diagnosis; 3) Be able to identify and interpret electrograms of different types of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardias; 4) Understand the difference between reentrant and automatic tachycardia, antidromic and orthodromic tachycardia, and WPW overt, concealed EKGs; 5) Demonstrate an understanding of electrograms during an ablation of a specific tachycardia; 6) Understand the mechanism of resistive heating versus conductive heating in myocardial cell death, and understand the benefits and differences between 4mm, 8mm and irrigated tip ablation catheters; 7) Understand how and why radiofrequency energy is effective in curing arrhythmias; 8) Understand syncope diagnosis and treatment; 9) Learn an overview of a 3D mapping system; and 10) Understand the electrical analysis and anatomical consideration of transvenous pacing and defibrillation lead placement. EnSite (ESI) NavX System Workshop - November 2008. Upon completion, attendees will be able to: Bring the system up and understand the steps for contact and non-contact mapping; Be able to collect geometry from the Array catheter; and Understand the activation feature and be able to work with the reps on several cases. 3D Mapping System - Carto XP and Ultrasound workshop. This workshop is scheduled for December 2008. Acknowledgment The new training center was designed by Jeff Pelkey, RRT at St. David s Medical Center. TCAI gratefully acknowledges him for transforming a vision into reality! To request more details about the on-site physician proctoring admission condition or any other TCAI courses, or to purchase any course syllabus, please contact: admin@tcainstitute.com. TCAI can also be reached at 866-892-3408 or by visiting: www.tcainstitute.com