Maurits Allessie (born 1945) is an emeritus professor of physiology at Maastricht University. As an electrophysiologist he developed better insights in atrial fibrillation.
Allessie was born in 1945 in Gemert, the Netherlands, [1] and was raised in Amsterdam. [2] He obtained his MD from the University of Amsterdam in 1974, and his PhD from Maastricht University in 1977. [3] At age 38 he became a professor of physiology at the latter university, and seven years later he became head of the department. [1] During his career Allessie studied heart problems. [4]
In 1998 he received the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Heart Rhythm Society, and in 2011 the Founders Lectureship Award. [5]
Allessie became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. [6] The academy praised Allessie for developing better insights into atrial fibrillation and electrophysiology of the heart. He was a professor between 2003 and 2008. [7] Allessie has stressed the importance of classical/integral physiology in research and education. [2]
Fibrillation is the rapid, irregular, and unsynchronized contraction of muscle fibers. An important occurrence is with regard to the heart.
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is an umbrella term for fast heart rhythms arising from the upper part of the heart. This is in contrast to the other group of fast heart rhythms – ventricular tachycardia, which start within the lower chambers of the heart. There are four main types of SVT: atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), and Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome. The symptoms of SVT include palpitations, feeling of faintness, sweating, shortness of breath, and/or chest pain.
Cardiac electrophysiology is a branch of cardiology and basic science focusing on the electrical activities of the heart. The term is usually used in clinical context, to describe studies of such phenomena by invasive (intracardiac) catheter recording of spontaneous activity as well as of cardiac responses to programmed electrical stimulation - clinical cardiac electrophysiology. However, cardiac electrophysiology also encompasses basic research and translational research components. Specialists studying cardiac electrophysiology, either clinically or solely through research, are known as cardiac electrophysiologists.
In the heart's conduction system, Bachmann's bundle is a branch of the anterior internodal tract that resides on the inner wall of the left atrium. It is a broad band of cardiac muscle that passes from the right atrium, between the superior vena cava and the ascending aorta. Bachmann's bundle is, during normal sinus rhythm, the preferential path for electrical activation of the left atrium. It is therefore considered to be part of the "atrial conduction system" of the heart.
Michel Haïssaguerre is a French cardiologist and electrophysiologist. His investigations have been the basis for development of new markers and therapies for atrial and ventricular fibrillation.
D. George Wyse FRCPC is the Chair of the International Experts Advisory Committee of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta (LCIA). Wyse is a recognized and decorated international expert in the area of cardiac arrhythmias. His research led to fundamental changes in the way cardiac arrhythmias are treated, in specific, the reduction in use of certain antiarrhythmic agents.
Frans Maurits Jaeger was a Dutch chemist and specialist in the history of chemistry. He is known for his studies of the symmetry of crystals.
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) characterized by rapid and irregular beating of the atrial chambers of the heart. It often begins as short periods of abnormal beating, which become longer or continuous over time. It may also start as other forms of arrhythmia such as atrial flutter that then transform into AF. Episodes can be asymptomatic. Symptomatic episodes may involve heart palpitations, fainting, lightheadedness, shortness of breath, or chest pain. Atrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of heart failure, dementia, and stroke. It is a type of supraventricular tachycardia.
Henrick Joan Joost Wellens, M.D., (1935–2020) was a Dutch cardiologist who is considered one of the founding fathers clinical cardiac electrophysiology - a discipline which enables patients with cardiac arrhythmias to have catheter electrode mapping and ablation.
Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults – is called tachycardia, and a resting heart rate that is too slow – below 60 beats per minute – is called bradycardia. Some types of arrhythmias have no symptoms. Symptoms, when present, may include palpitations or feeling a pause between heartbeats. In more serious cases, there may be lightheadedness, passing out, shortness of breath or chest pain. While most cases of arrhythmia are not serious, some predispose a person to complications such as stroke or heart failure. Others may result in sudden death.
James L. Cox is an American cardiothoracic surgeon and medical innovator best known for the development of the Cox maze procedure for treatment of atrial fibrillation in 1987.
Andrea Natale is an Italian-born American cardiologist and electrophysiologist, i.e. a heart rhythm specialist. Natale is known for his work in atrial fibrillation ablation, and he is currently the executive director at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute.
Yaariv Khaykin is a Canadian cardiologist and a clinical researcher in the area of electrophysiology. He is the director of the Newmarket Electrophysiology Research Group at the Southlake Regional Health Centre. He has published research into complex ablation and pioneered cardiac ablation methods.
John Alexander MacWilliam, a physiologist at the University of Aberdeen in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was a pioneer in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. He spent many years studying ventricular fibrillation, and was the first person to propose that ventricular fibrillation was the most common cause of sudden death - and that fibrillation could be terminated by a series of induction shocks to the heart. He was the first to accurately describe the condition of arrhythmia, and he suggested transthoracic pacing to treat transient asystole . Although his work was recognised within his lifetime, it was not until many decades later that it laid the foundations for developments in the understanding and treatment of life-threatening heart conditions, such as in the artificial cardiac pacemaker. MacWilliam was appointed Regius Professor of the Institutes of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen at the age of 29 in 1886, and remained in that post for 41 years until his retirement in 1927.
Tarlochan Singh Kler is an Indian interventional cardiologist, medical administrator, writer, Chairman at Fortis Heart and Vascular Institute, and. Born in Amargarh in the Indian state of Punjab, he graduated in medicine from Punjabi University in 1976, secured his MD in general medicine from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in 1980 and followed it up with the degree of DM in cardiology from the same institution in 1983. He succeeded Naresh Trehan as the executive director of Fortis Heart Institute and Research Centre before becoming its director. He has written several articles on interventional cardiology; Persistent left superior vena cava opening directly into right atrium and mistaken for coronary sinus during biventricular pacemaker implantation, Mammary coronary artery anastomosis without cardiopulmonary bypass through minithoracotomy: one year clinical experience, and Ventricular Fibrillation in the EP Lab. What is the Atrial Rhythm? are some of the notable ones. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2005, for his contributions to medicine.
Bruce B. Lerman is a cardiologist. He is the Hilda Altschul Master Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and is chief of the Division of Cardiology and director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Sanjiv M. Narayan is a British-born American physician, biomedical engineer, and academic researcher. He is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. Narayan's work is focused on treating patients with heart rhythm disorders, particularly those with atrial fibrillation. His research applies bioengineering and computational methods to develop improved diagnostic tools and therapy.
Günter Breithardt is a German physician, cardiologist and emeritus university professor. He is known for his research in the field of rhythmology, especially the diagnosis and pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy of cardiac arrhythmias and acute cardiac death, in particular the identification of arrhythmia-triggering gene mutations. For 21 years he headed the Medical Clinic and Polyclinic C at Münster University Hospital. A number of his academic students hold university management and chief physician positions.