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(Circulation. 2007;115:2088.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editors' Note

Charles I. Berul; William G. Stevenson

Series Editors, Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology, Circulation

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Palpitations, syncope, and sudden death, the hallmark manifestations of cardiac arrhythmias, are encountered by all cardiologists and other clinicians. In the United States alone, more than 2 million people are affected with atrial arrhythmias. Annually more than 250 000 are victims of sudden death, most often from ventricular arrhythmias. Heart rhythm abnormalities are common comorbidities in many cardiac diseases, and a significant number of people have primary electrophysiological diseases without structural or functional heart disease.

The field of interventional cardiac electrophysiology began more than 20 years ago, when Melvin Scheinman and John Gallagher’s work demonstrating that an electric shock applied to a temporary pacing catheter could be used to selectively damage a portion of the cardiac electrical system, establishing the feasibility of catheter ablation in humans. Almost simultaneously, Michel Mirowski’s dream of an implantable defibrillator was becoming a clinical reality, with the first cardioverter defibrillator implantation in 1980. These technologies rapidly developed to the point of replacing antiarrhythmic drug therapy and arrhythmia surgery as treatments for many arrhythmias. As cardiac rhythm management devices evolved, they provided diagnostic insights into the pathophysiology of arrhythmias that apply directly to diagnosis and treatment. Articles in the Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology series will provide an up-to-date review and assessment of the field.

Depressed ventricular function from any cause and an increasing number of genetic diseases are associated with a risk of sudden arrhythmic death that can be dramatically reduced by an implantable defibrillator. Implantable arrhythmia devices now treat ventricular dysfunction in an increasing number of . . . [Full Text of this Article]