(Newswire.net — March 5, 2021) — For thousands of years, our world has been full of healers who feel called to help others. Although the tools, methods, and overall knowledge of the human body have all changed significantly over the years, the mission of using mental and physical skills to help others has not.
A perfect example of this is Andrea Natale, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.H.R.S., F.E.S.C., who has combined a healing touch with a focus on using current tools and methods to improve patients’ quality of life – and if the tools aren’t there, he creates them himself.
Dr. Andrea Natale has been practicing medicine in the United States and Italy for more than 35 years. His skills go beyond basic care and internal medicine; he specializes in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. He has also become a noted expert in cardiac electrophysiology, the study of the electric properties and activity between heart cells, especially irregular heart rhythms and how to correct them.
He’s a highly esteemed researcher and instructor, has lectured around the world for over 25 years and is a faculty member at several prestigious schools.
Dr. Andrea Natale is a true pioneer in using modern technology to achieve positive results for his patients, including catheter-based cures for atrial fibrillation. He also has the distinction of being the first electrophysiologist in the U.S. to perform certain types of ablations to help patients with atrial fibrillation who were unable to heal with traditional ablation methods.
As the current executive medical director of the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, he and other physicians he trained continue to work toward advances in technology and medicine to help more patients.
Ultimately, he wants to see patients be helped through a variety of assistive technologies, such as specialized catheters and robotic devices, rather than traditional surgical methods. He has expanded the mission of the institute beyond Texas and the United States. In fact over 90% of his patients travel from out of state and country to seek his undiscussed expertise.
Background
Andrea Natale began studying medicine in 1979 at the University of Florence Medical and Surgery School in Florence, Italy. He graduated summa cum laude in 1985 In Medicine and Surgery.
He then continued his medical training by attending the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart’s School of Cardiology in Rome. He completed this program in 1989 also summa cum laude Between 1989 and 1991, he was head of the physiopathology section for the Italian Air Force’s Department of Medicine.
His next move took him to Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was appointed Section Head of the Department of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology, Director of the electrophysiology laboratories and Medical Director of the Clinic’s Atrial Fibrillation Center. He remained in these positions from 2000 to 2008.
In 2008, Dr. Andrea Natale left Cleveland for his role at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute.
Although he is still based there, he has leadership roles at other medical programs around the country, including Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at SCRIPPS General Hospital in San Diego, and at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California. In recent times, he has served as the first Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital (Mount Sinai) in NYC, prior to taking on the leading role of Executive Medical Director of the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas and National Medical Director for Cardiac Electrophysiology for HCA.
He also holds a variety of academic positions, including Stanford University and Western Reserve University. He’s a fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society, the European Society of Cardiology, and the American College of Cardiology and has been appointed to the FDA’s Task Force on Atrial Fibrillation.
Atrial Fibrillation
Over the years, Dr. Andrea Natale’s has focused on at heart rhythm issues and researched better ways to help people stabilize these and improve their lives, especially those with atrial fibrillation. His efforts eventually led to the development of a vein ablation system using circumferential ultrasounds to address atrial fibrillation, and he personally performed this treatment on the first five patients to receive it.
He has received a patent for an atrial fibrillation device that he designed. Dr. Natale also has created a radio-frequency ablation method that can benefit those who have failed conventional ablation.
Offering catheter-based ablation options is especially useful. More patients are needing ablation, and many of those patients are not especially great candidates for traditional methods. For instance, patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation may benefit, as well as those with non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
Depending on the individual patient conditions, patients with chronic atrial fibrillation may benefit from catheter ablation alone, what he calls a hybrid approach involving a combination of ablation and surgery.
Honors
Because of the advancements in cardiac care due to his research, Dr. Andrea Natale has been called a “rockstar” in his field by many peers. He has been invited to speak at more than 200 symposiums around the world and has received a variety of professional accolades and awards. He’s also written or co-written hundreds of papers on these topics.
While some of the honors are due entirely to his medical efforts, such as being declared “top doc” in Cleveland and Austin, and “best doc” in Northern Ohio and in the United States overall, he’s also been recognized for other efforts. These have included being declared Cleveland Clinic Innovator of the Year in 2004, 2005, and 2006; receiving the Cleveland Clinic Bakken Heart-Brain Institute Research Award; and receiving the Bury + Partners Innovation Award.
Some accolades have come from patients, as evidenced by his nearly five-star rating from HealthGrades with more than 130 ratings. Reviewers have complimented Dr. Natale on everything from his technical skills to his ability to explain conditions well to the fact that he offers telehealth services.
About Dr. Andrea Natale
Dr. Andrea Natale is a recognized expert in the field of electrophysiology, cardiovascular disease, and internal medicine. He’s an accomplished instructor, researcher, and inventor who has created a variety of other useful tools for catheter-based atrial fibrillation. He was the first electrophysiologist in the U.S. to perform a certain type of radio frequency-based ablation for cardiac patients unable to utilize conventional methods. His ultimate goal is to benefit patients through assistive technologies, including specialized ablation catheters and robotic devices. For more information, visit the websites of Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia or St. David’s Health Care.