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 largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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