The Velammal Hospital, Madurai, has introduced Pulsed Field Ablation, a new treatment for irregular heartbeat (Atrial Fibrillation).Speaking to media persons on Friday, the doctors said that they had successfully performed the PFA procedure introducing this state-of-the-art cardiac rhythm technology, to patients in south Tamil Nadu.The procedure was performed by P. Shunmuga Sundaram, Director of Cardiology and Cath Labs. He said that irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia is one of the most common heart rhythm disorders, in which the upper chambers of the heart beats irregularly and often too fast, disrupting blood flow. If left untreated, it significantly increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, and long-term cardiac complications.Symptoms range from palpitations, fatigue, breathlessness and dizziness to, in many cases, no symptoms at all – making early detection and timely treatment crucial.Explaining the technology, Dr. Shunmuga Sundaram said Pulsed Field Ablation was first used clinically in the United States and Europe. It has been in use at leading cardiac centers for the past several years, and has now been introduced to Indian hospitals.He explained that PFA marks a fundamental shift from older ablation methods: conventional catheter ablation techniques rely on thermal energy – either heat (radiofrequency ablation) or extreme cold (cryoablation) – to destroy the heart tissue responsible for atrial fibrillation. PFA, in contrast, delivers electrical pulses through a thin catheter, precisely targeting only the heart cells causing the irregular rhythm while largely sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.This cutting-edge, he said, tissue-specific approach to treating irregular heart rhythms represents a major advancement, offering greater procedural precision, stronger safety with fewer side effects, and generally faster recovery compared to older ablation methods.He said that after gaining widespread adoption abroad, PFA has been introduced in Indian hospitals only over the past month.From 2014 to 2025, the Cardiology Department at Velammal Hospital had successfully carried over 62,000 cardiac procedures, including angiograms, angioplasties, pacemaker (conduction system pacing) implants, electrophysiology studies, and radiofrequency ablations, he added. Published - July 10, 2026 07:42 pm IST