Austin, TX — On April 18-19, 2024, the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute (TCAI) at St. David’s Medical Center hosted its seventh international symposium on complex arrhythmias, EPLive 2024. This year’s event included 1,000 registered attendees from all over the globe, including Argentina, Italy and Japan, with more than 250 people attending in person.
Participants included practicing clinical cardiac electrophysiologists, electrophysiologist fellows and general cardiologists who have an interest in treating complex cardiac arrhythmias—a condition in which the heart beats with an irregular or abnormal rhythm. The primary teaching tool was live cases with expert commentary broadcast from the Electrophysiology Center at St. David’s Medical Center, the leading robotic electrophysiology center in North America.
Live cases performed during EPLive 2024 featured commercially approved pulsed field ablation (PFA) systems—the biggest advancement in the electrophysiology (EP) field in decades. The first commercially approved PFA case in the U.S. was performed earlier this year by physicians at TCAI. PFA produces high-frequency electrical pulses to destroy muscle cells that cause irregular heart rhythms without using excess heat or cold. The non-thermal approach does not damage surrounding tissue and, therefore, enhances patient outcomes.
“The practicality of EPLive—exposing current and aspiring EP professionals to live cases from the world’s leading electrophysiology experts in different settings with new technology—is why it is so important to hold this two-day conference,” Andrea Natale, M.D., F.H.R.S., F.A.C.C., F.E.S.C., cardiac electrophysiologist and executive medical director of TCAI and EPLive course director, said. “With EPLive, we strive to positively impact the lives of patients across the globe.”
In addition to TCAI, some of the world’s premier centers participated: Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York), Cleveland Clinic, Houston Methodist, Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute, Massachusetts General, Monzino Heart Center (Italy), St. Bernard’s Heart and Vascular Center (Arkansas), UCLA Health, University of Chicago Medicine, UC Health Center (Colorado), University of Pennsylvania and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
In addition to demonstrations from Dr. Natale, EPLive featured presentations by several TCAI physicians, including course co-director, Amin Al-Ahmad, M.D., John Allison, M.D., Weeranun Bode, M.D., David Burkhardt, M.D., Robert Canby, M.D., Joseph Gallinghouse, M.D., Rodney Horton, M.D., Patrick Hranitzky, M.D. and David Kessler, M.D.
Physicians received a maximum of 14.5 American Medical Association (AMA) Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA) Category 1 Credit™ hours at the conference.
For more information about the conference, visit EP-Live.com.
St. David’s Medical Center
St. David’s Medical Center, which is part of St. David’s HealthCare, is a full-service medical center offering comprehensive medical care at three locations—St. David’s Medical Center, Heart Hospital of Austin and St. David’s Georgetown Hospital.
Located in Central Austin, St. David’s Medical Center includes a 371-bed acute care hospital and a 64-bed rehabilitation hospital providing comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care. The hospital provides a complete range of women’s services, including its acclaimed maternity unit, maternal-fetal medicine, a high-risk maternal and neonatal transport team, the region’s largest Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and comprehensive breast imaging services provided by Solis Mammography. The hospital also has a comprehensive Bariatric Surgery Center and a 24-hour emergency department.