In his early twenties, Nazia Matar, now 63, was diagnosed with a serious heart condition that progressively worsened. Twice daily, a pacemaker delivered electric shocks to his heart to manage his arrhythmia. However, as his health declined, Matar lost hope until physicians at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel suggested a procedure that saved his life.
Every effort to stabilize Nazia Matar’s cardiac arrhythmia had failed, prompting his physicians to propose an innovative treatment: targeted cardiac radiation therapy adapted from an existing technique. The groundbreaking treatment gave him a second chance at life.
Dr. Tomer Charas, deputy director of the Oncology Department at the Joseph Fishman Oncology Center (Fishman) at Rambam, explains that the technique was developed by Rambam physician-scientists and Kiel University in Germany. It focuses precisely on the arrhythmia source minimizing damage to surrounding tissue. Matar would be the first cardiac patient to receive this single, high-dose precision treatment regularly used in cancer patients.
Regular radiation therapy damages surrounding, healthy tissue, but with ultra-modern, accurate imaging and mapping techniques, physicians can target the source of the arrhythmia with minimal damage and reducing radiation exposure. "Results are promising," says Charas.”
Matar, a Haifa resident and grandfather of two, recalls his struggles. Diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, he faced compounding health issues, including heart disease diagnosed in his twenties. After a valve replacement, he enjoyed 25 years of relative normalcy until arrhythmias, heart failure, other complications, and pacemaker dependency disrupted his life. His life with a pacemaker was traumatic filled with the dread of the daily electrical shocks. He became reclusive, and at night, he struggled to breathe. He and his family lived in constant fear.
Following a severe episode in April—several pacemaker shocks in a matter of minutes—he was hospitalized in Rambam’s ICU. After exhausting all conventional treatments, his physicians proposed the experimental cardiac radiation therapy.
“We had exhausted all options,” said Professor Mahmoud Suleiman, Director of the Electro-Physiological Catheterization Service at Rambam’s Eyal Ofer Heart Hospital. “Ablation wasn’t feasible because the arrhythmia source was outside the heart. Radiation therapy was our only solution.” Although skeptical, Matar agreed, and a single, non-invasive radiation session without anesthesia was performed. He says he has his life back, “my heart is filled with joy,” and adds that he recently went fishing with his sons.
Dr. Salem Billan, director of the Radiotherapy Institute at Fishman, was astonished by the results. “In the past year since the procedure, Matar’s pacemaker hasn’t been activated once. A patient treated earlier this year has experienced the same success,” he says.
In Israel, heart arrhythmias affect hundreds of thousands by disrupting the heart’s electrical rhythm. Severe cases, such as ventricular fibrillation, can be life threatening without immediate intervention. Treating arrhythmia with targeted radiation therapy represents a breakthrough for patients unresponsive to conventional treatments or ineligible for ablation therapy.
Dr. Tomer Charas (L) and Professor Mahmoud Suleiman (R).
Credit: Rambam HCC
Based on a Hebrew article that first appeared on Ynet.
