Science / Medicine : Heart Cure Uses a Balloon

Canadian researchers say they have found a better method of curing certain cases of the irregular heart beats responsible for hundreds of thousands of North American deaths a year. The procedure developed at Toronto General Hospital employs a balloon in its effort to pinpoint and destroy diseased areas of heart muscle that cause life-threatening fluctuations called ventricular arrhythmia.

During the process, doctors snake a small deflated balloon, studded with 112 silver beads acting as electrodes, into the ventricle through the mitral valve, which allows blood to flow to the ventricle from the atrium.

The balloon then is inflated, and the electrodes “map” the arrhythmia by monitoring electrical activity in the heart. When the diseased muscle area is found, it is zapped and destroyed by electric shocks.