Dr. Zainul Abedin is an electrophysiologist that specializes in heart rhythm problems caused by malfunction of the electrical system in the heart. And Abedin is not only at the forefront of treating the conditions, he is also an ardent student of the history of development in the field.
“Electrophysiology…compared to the other specialties and other fields, is relatively young,” Abedin said. “Somewhere in 1988 or 1990, a Dr. Jackman from Oklahoma devised a method which is now called ablation, a way of introducing the radio frequency through the catheter and ablating the heart rhythm.”
Abedin explained that use of the medical device known as a defibrillator came around the same time.
Abedine said that the device, also known as a pacemaker, was first implanted in a patient at UMC in El Paso in 1988.
“That procedure at that time required open heart surgery, because the defibrillator was large and the patches were implanted on the heart, [which] would require opening the chest to put in the defibrillator,” Abedin said.
However, now the technology utilized within the field by physicians such as Abedin has evolved to the extent that a wire can be inserted through the vein to the defibrillator, which can now simply be implanted under the skin, instead of during an operation.
“I think the people in the community need to realize that this kind of a treatment or diagnosis for heart rhythm problem is available…at the UMC, as some of the patients live with this problem for a long time,” Abedin said.
Abedin explained that given the advances in treatment an irregular heartbeat can be recognized and diagnosed during evaluation much earlier, which can save lives.
“Patients who I did the ablation for when they were teenagers and are now in their 30s and 40s,” Abedin said. “They have families and so on, and they still come back to say ‘hello,’ and that it’s pretty gratifying to [be able to] correct and take care of those problems.”
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