WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:01.369 --> 00:00:03.952 [♪] 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:07.840 - In order for the heart to function well, 00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:11.253 it has to be pumping in a very coordinated fashion. 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:14.700 For that all to work together, 00:00:14.700 --> 00:00:17.423 there's a complex electrical system inside the heart. 00:00:18.450 --> 00:00:19.510 - The electrical signals 00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:21.990 are the foundation of the heartbeat. 00:00:21.990 --> 00:00:24.780 An electrical signal leading the a squeeze of the heart 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:26.283 is like a dance. 00:00:27.630 --> 00:00:29.150 The electricity of the heart 00:00:29.150 --> 00:00:31.230 has to move in a coordinated fashion, 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:34.160 so that the blood can move through nice and smoothly. 00:00:35.260 --> 00:00:38.330 - That coordination provides the normal rhythm, 00:00:38.330 --> 00:00:40.360 or squeezing pattern for the heart. 00:00:40.370 --> 00:00:41.630 And when that goes awry, 00:00:41.630 --> 00:00:44.480 that's what we call an abnormal rhythm, or an arrhythmia. 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:47.240 - Abnormal electrical impulses 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.020 can lead to a variety of symptoms in patients, 00:00:50.020 --> 00:00:53.680 and it can even lead to heart failure over time in some patients. 00:00:57.620 --> 00:01:00.700 - I'm Charlotte and I'm 10 years old. 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:05.520 I do dance, like ballet and Irish dance. 00:01:05.530 --> 00:01:07.700 - The first time she had an episode 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:09.440 was when she was dancing. 00:01:09.440 --> 00:01:13.870 She was doing Irish dance, which is very aerobic at times, 00:01:13.870 --> 00:01:15.358 and she just stopped and said 00:01:15.358 --> 00:01:17.860 "My heart's beating really fast." 00:01:17.860 --> 00:01:20.710 We checked her pulse, it was definitely going very fast, 00:01:20.710 --> 00:01:22.210 and it just wasn't slowing down 00:01:22.210 --> 00:01:24.270 the normal way you would think it would slow down. 00:01:24.270 --> 00:01:26.540 - It felt like it was popping out 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:28.360 and it was going super fast 00:01:28.360 --> 00:01:31.240 and I could feel it when I put my hand over it. 00:01:32.830 --> 00:01:36.250 - Charlotte's symptoms were caused by SVT, 00:01:36.250 --> 00:01:38.850 or superventricular tachycardia, 00:01:38.850 --> 00:01:42.350 which is an abnormally fast heart rhythm. 00:01:42.350 --> 00:01:45.460 So she used both the normal circuit of her heart 00:01:45.460 --> 00:01:48.150 and also this extra electrical pathway in her heart 00:01:48.150 --> 00:01:49.740 to create a circuit, 00:01:49.740 --> 00:01:53.210 that gave her palpitations that were not dangerous 00:01:53.210 --> 00:01:54.110 in and of themselves, 00:01:54.110 --> 00:01:56.550 but understandably very uncomfortable for her. 00:01:56.550 --> 00:01:58.190 - [Charlotte] Sometimes it would just come 00:01:58.190 --> 00:01:59.940 and I would have to stop. 00:01:59.940 --> 00:02:01.760 It's harder for me to dance, 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:03.760 concentrating on what I'm meant to be doing 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:05.469 instead of trying to concentrate 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.040 and trying to make it stop. 00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:09.749 - It was nerve wracking, however, 00:02:09.749 --> 00:02:13.538 Dr. Beach was very calming with explaining 00:02:13.538 --> 00:02:15.830 exactly what was happening. 00:02:15.830 --> 00:02:17.210 This is a condition that could be 00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:19.050 potentially very dangerous, 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:21.100 but this is how we're gonna deal with it. 00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:25.190 - We have special pediatric cardiologists 00:02:25.190 --> 00:02:27.580 who deal with the electrical system of the heart. 00:02:27.580 --> 00:02:30.300 You can think of them as the cardiac electricians, 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:33.860 if you will, and we call them electrophysiologists. 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:35.280 - [Dr. Beach] Charlotte underwent a procedure 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:39.770 that we call an electrophsyiology study and ablation. 00:02:39.770 --> 00:02:42.360 We use catheters to access blood vessels 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:44.970 at the top of the legs to get to the inside of the heart 00:02:44.970 --> 00:02:46.410 through the body. 00:02:46.410 --> 00:02:47.940 We use these catheters to find 00:02:47.940 --> 00:02:50.340 the abnormal electrical signals in the heart 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:53.910 and then create a little scar right at the exact area, 00:02:53.910 --> 00:02:55.890 so that the electricity can't move 00:02:55.890 --> 00:02:57.520 at that particular site. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.810 We start by making some geometry of the heart, 00:02:59.810 --> 00:03:02.350 so that we actually have a 3D heart model 00:03:02.350 --> 00:03:03.530 we're looking at, 00:03:03.530 --> 00:03:06.520 and we watch our catheters, and we map the electricity, 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:10.020 so that we can actually see where the electricity moves through the heart 00:03:10.320 --> 00:03:11.810 and we see the normal electricity 00:03:11.810 --> 00:03:14.220 as well as the abnormal electricity in this way. 00:03:15.220 --> 00:03:16.630 - [Heather] With the ablation procedure, 00:03:16.630 --> 00:03:19.400 she would only have to be in for a day or two at most, 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.390 and it would be through the femoral veins, 00:03:22.390 --> 00:03:24.310 so they don't have to open up her heart 00:03:24.310 --> 00:03:27.633 or anything like that, a very safe procedure. 00:03:30.760 --> 00:03:33.100 - [Dr. Asnes] The programs within the children's heart center 00:03:33.100 --> 00:03:35.980 span everything from heart rhythm abnormalities 00:03:35.984 --> 00:03:38.930 like arrhythmias to heart failure, 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:40.960 where the heart muscle itself is not working, 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.120 and perhaps the patient needs a heart transplant. 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:46.040 It's really a comprehensive program 00:03:46.040 --> 00:03:48.830 that takes care of patients and families 00:03:48.830 --> 00:03:51.050 with heart problems that got diagnosed, 00:03:51.050 --> 00:03:53.500 perhaps when they're in utero, 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:55.054 and we will manage those heart problems 00:03:55.054 --> 00:03:57.170 all the way through til adulthood, 00:03:57.170 --> 00:04:00.070 when our patients are hopefully having their own families. 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:02.420 - [Dr. Beach] Charlotte's doing awesome. 00:04:02.420 --> 00:04:04.360 She hasn't had any symptoms 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:06.390 since she had her procedure. 00:04:06.390 --> 00:04:07.600 - [Heather] She's doing great. 00:04:07.605 --> 00:04:12.200 Since the surgery, she is back to her normal self. 00:04:12.210 --> 00:04:14.610 We just don't have to worry about anything. 00:04:14.610 --> 00:04:16.684 - [Charlotte] It feels better than worrying about 00:04:16.684 --> 00:04:18.830 whenever I do jumps and stuff. 00:04:18.830 --> 00:04:20.955 Is it gonna happen, is it not gonna happen? 00:04:20.960 --> 00:04:24.380 We don't really even think about it much anymore. 00:04:24.380 --> 00:04:26.980 - [Dr. Beach] I just feel so honored 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:28.279 to be able to play a part 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.000 in allowing Charlotte to not even have this 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.734 be an issue for her.