Washington DC VA Medical Center Adds “Heart Electrician” to The Team

Baran Kilical is a cardiologist who specializes in electrophysiology at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. As Co-director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology department, he performs high-tech procedures to treat Veterans with abnormal heart rhythms. But he describes himself, more simply, as the heart’s electrician.

 “It used to be that you were just a cardiologist but as capabilities to perform invasive procedures grow, so do our subspecialities,” said Kilical. “The big two are the plumbers, who place stents, and the electricians who do pacemakers, defibrillators and anything to do with the heart that is electrical.”

As an electrophysiologist, Kilical treats patients with Atrial Fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular, and often dangerous heartbeat. “Atrial Fibrillation feels awful. It can make a heart go crazy and cause fluttering palpations that result in fatigue, shortness of breath or even stroke. If the rhythm is really fast, it can cause a weakening of the heart,” he said.

According to Kilical, fifteen percent of the population that lives to be 80 will develop atrial fibrillation. Medication is the most common type of treatment, but they only work to reduce the severity, duration, and frequency of the irregular heartbeat. They won’t eliminate it, he added. That’s where Ablation comes in. 

Ablation is a minimally invasive procedure in which a small puncture is made into blood vessels for access. From there, a sheath, or straw like tube, is inserted and maneuvered through blood vessels to the heart. Wires, passed through the straw, deliver heat via radiofrequency, or extreme cold via cryotechnology, to stop or redirect the abnormal rhythm.

The DC VA Medical Center added the newer cryotechnology to their arsenal this past December and invited Kilical, who was one of the early adopters of this technology in the DC area, to join their team.  

“There was nobody at our VA who had used this before, so I was able to bring it to the medical center and it has been great to be able to offer it,” said Kilical.

Another new addition to the VA’s toolbox is three-dimensional mapping, which allows doctors like Kilical the ability to see, in real time, where the short circuit in the heart is located, and how to maneuver their wires to it. Previously, they relied on x-rays to take pictures of the process as they went. With 3-D mapping, they can eliminate unnecessary exposure of X-rays to the patient and staff and complete the procedure faster.

The combination of 3D mapping and cryotechnology has allowed Veterans with complex cases of atrial fibrillation, who would have previously been referred to another facility, to be treated in house for the first time.

“We were the first in Maryland or DC to get the newest generation of the EnSite X cardiac mapping system,” said Kilical. “When you consider all of the major hospitals that are in this area, we beat them to the punch and we’re providing cutting edge technology and care to Veterans that is better than they could get anywhere else.”

The new procedures will help Veterans suffering from atrial fibrillation live a healthier life and reduce the number of pills they may need to take daily – an added benefit that Kilical believes will also lessen the burden of health care costs on the industry.

Ablation is not for everybody and Kilical said the procedure is most successful when performed earlier in younger patients. But for Veteran’s looking for a solution to their irregular heartbeat, the DC VA Medical Center’s new heart electrician is ready to help them get their groove back.