Dr. Don Robespierre Reyes
To keep track with the latest techniques in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), the Philippine Heart Association and to elevate life-saving skills, the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) Council on CPR conducted Advanced Resuscitation Course on Day 0, Pre-con of the PHA-PCC 55th Convention and Scientific Meeting.
CPR Council Chair Dr. Don Robespierre Reyes said: “in the Philippines, I don't think you get to see a lot of patients getting out of the door alive, with the brain function, intact and everything. So we know the grave outcomes of our patients who go into cardiac arrest. And that is why we feel obliged in this council that we have to do something about this one.”
Dr. Raymond Bayaua
He gave tips on how to avoid the triggers of ventricular arrhythmia. Lifestyle adjustments, such as reducing stress, managing blood pressure, and avoiding excessive caffeine or alcohol. Antiarrhythmic medications are also prescribed to suppress the abnormal electrical activity in the heart.
Dr. Raymond Bayaua said management strategies often involve a multifaceted approach, combining lifestyle modifications, medications, and potentially interventional procedures.
However, for patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) offer a crucial safety net, delivering life-saving shocks to restore normal heart rhythm when a dangerous arrhythmia occurs. ICDs is a medical device implanted in the chest to help regulate/restore the heart rhythm.
He said a more invasive procedure, can be used to target and destroy the specific heart tissue responsible for initiating and sustaining the arrhythmia, offering a potentially curative option for certain types of ventricular arrhythmias.
