Mount Sinai Pioneers New Approach for Cardiac Arrhythmia Patients Using the EpiAccess® System
The Mount Sinai Hospital is the first site in the New York metropolitan area to pioneer a new approach for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias using the EpiAccess® system. Developed by medical device company EpiEP, Inc., the EpiAccess system is a specialized instrument that facilitates an epicardial approach for non-surgical procedures on the surface of the heart.
“We are pleased to be among the first facilities in the nation to offer the EpiAccess system,” said Vivek Reddy, MD, Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services at The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Mount Sinai Health System. “By providing routine and safe access to the pericardial space, the device offers a new approach to treat arrhythmias from the outside of the heart, enabling enhanced safety in advanced procedures and opening a new frontier for treating our patients.”
Non-surgical epicardial access has traditionally been limited by the two-dimensional image of a needle guided by intermittent fluoroscopy, which makes it difficult to know the precise location of the needle tip when accessing this small space surrounding the heart. The EpiAccess needle’s fiber-optic tip provides real-time pressure frequency data and immediate confirmation to alert physicians about needle tip location during the procedure. It was designed to reduce the risk of complications such as pericardial effusions, procedure time, and exposure to radiation used during these types of procedures.
These first procedures with the EpiAccess system were performed by Srinivas Dukkipati, MD, Co-Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Reddy serves as an uncompensated consultant for EpiEp (manufacturer of the EpiAccess system). Dr. Reddy also owns equity in EpiEp (a privately traded company) in the form of stock options.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.
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