Mary Gray experienced telling symptoms, including rapid heartbeat, sweating and lightheadedness. Seek help if you experience these symptoms.

Mary Gray, a 55-year-old caseworker at the Department of Human Services and a Washington, DC resident, had no idea why her heart would suddenly start racing out of control during normal daily activities like walking or working. "I'd start sweating and feeling lightheaded, and then my heart would start beating really fast," she recalls. The attacks gradually became more frequent and severe, landing her in the emergency room three times. "During the last attack, I could actually see my blouse moving because my heart was pounding so hard," she says.

To learn the cause of Mary's symptoms, Cynthia M. Tracy, MD, Director, Electrophysiology Laboratories at The George Washington University Hospital, performed a study of the electrical system of Mary's heart.

"At GW Hospital, we have advanced equipment that helps us understand exactly how electricity is traveling through the heart and what's causing it to beat erratically," Dr. Tracy says. She discovered that one small portion of tissue in the upper chambers of Mary's heart was generating electrical impulses that were causing abnormal heart rhythms, known as cardiac arrhythmias.

If left untreated, Mary's type of cardiac arrhythmia could have led to serious problems.

After pinpointing the abnormal tissue, Dr. Tracy performed a cardiac ablation, a nonsurgical procedure during which a thin wire (catheter) is threaded through a blood vessel in the groin up to the heart. The catheter emits a mild, painless radiofrequency energy (similar to microwave heat) to destroy only the tissue that was causing the abnormal rhythms.

A Full Recovery
After her procedure, Mary remembers waking up with some minor soreness and major hunger pangs. She ate a good dinner, stayed in the hospital overnight and returned to work the next week.

Her experience was fairly typical, says Marco A. Mercader, MD, Cardiac Electrophysiologist. "At GW Hospital, we perform many cardiac ablation procedures every year," he says. "Our experienced physicians, combined with our advanced technology, contribute to our high success rate and low incidence of complications."

Mary has felt great since her procedure. "This has made such a difference in my life," she says. "Before, I never knew when I'd have an attack, so I'd only leave the house to go to work. Now, I love going out with my girlfriends on the spur of the moment."

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