Introduction of Heart Rhythm Center of Taipei Veterans General Hospital

The Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory, under the leadership of Professor Shih-Ann Chen, is a multidisciplinary team that offers state-of-the-art and patient-oriented diagnosis and treatment for heart rhythm disorders. We strive to maintain a leadership role in advancing cardiac arrhythmia research, education, and healthcare delivery standards at regional, national, and international levels.

Achievement

The team members developed the "Taipei Approach" for AF ablation, which has revolutionized the global consensus on AF management. The team was also the first to introduce the concept of time-frequency in AF and VT ablation procedures.

Clinical practice

According to our database, we have performed nearly 4,500 cases of atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter ablation over the past 20 years, as well as almost 1,000 ventricular arrhythmia (VA) ablation procedures in the last decade, with one-fourth of these cases being substrate VA. Our laboratory has achieved a high success rate in cardiac arrhythmia ablation procedures, including a one-year AF-free rate of 84.3% for paroxysmal cases and 70.6% for persistent cases at Taipei Veterans General Hospital. These rates are higher than the global average of 74.9% for paroxysmal cases and 64.8% for persistent cases. Additionally, our acute success rate for VA ablation is 90.2%. Furthermore, our procedure-related complication rate is lower than the published international registry data, with a rate of 2.59% at Taipei Veterans General Hospital compared to the global rate of 4.54%.

Important award

The team members have received several prestigious awards, including the "2013 Eminent Cardiologist Award" from the Asia Pacific Heart Association, the "2013 Symbol of National Quality" gold medal, and the "2017 Distinguished Achievement Award for Civil Servants". The team has also been recognized as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Taiwan" in both 1994 and 2017, among other notable honors.

Academic achievement

The team members have discovered numerous novel electrophysiologic mechanisms and ablation techniques for treating arrhythmias, and have made outstanding academic contributions to the field. Their work has been published in prestigious journals, including 32 articles in Circulation, 32 articles in JACC, and 40 book chapters. As a result of their innovative research, the team has been recognized as an international pioneer and leader in the field of radiofrequency ablation of arrhythmias.