I’m a wife, a mother, a wannabe guitar player…I guess to accomplish those goals I should start by picking up my guitar 🤔. However, my real passion project is electrophysiology education. Through this blog, I hope to help many others reach their goals and ideally make it fun along the way. We will discuss various EP topics, give tips to new and seasoned EP staff, share new technologies, case studies, electrograms, and so much more.
Let me start by explaining who I am and how I got to where I am today. Then, I promise to dive into the good EP stuff.
I received my cardiovascular technology degree from Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, SD. I spent the majority of my lab experience at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. At Sanford, Dr. Scott Pham guided, encouraged, and challenged me. I started taking exams… RCES, IBHRE/CEPS, and IBHRE/CCDS. There were very few study materials available to me so I printed electrograms, took notes, asked questions, and read Fogoro’s book about four times.
To help others, I compiled all of my notes, electrograms, and flashcards to begin writing an EP review book. I coauthored EP Exam Review with Wes Todd.I then gained more experience as the EP lead in the lab and had the pleasure of working with Dr. Chris Stanton for my last couple of years in SD.
I was ready for a new challenge and warmer weather…. Welcome to Arizona. I joined St. Jude Medical (now Abbott) on the EP mapping side. Wow, that’s when I realized I still had a lot more to learn. Diving into the mapping side opened up many new areas to learn and explore.
Through work, I met my incredible husband, Scot, and continued to grow professionally and personally with his continual support and encouragement. We both saw the need for EP education through the various labs that we covered. So, we partnered with Dr. Paul Haas for our next project. Dr. Haas is a gifted EP in the Phoenix area that covers many complex procedures. With his wealth of knowledge and desire to educate, we created a company, EP Essentials, wrote Understanding EP: A Comprehensive Guide, a correlating workbook, and an online EP education program.
What’s next? Maybe I’ll finally dust if my guitar and actually start learning…. or, maybe not. In the meantime, let’s learn EP.
Please subscribe and come back each week for more.
Until then — VIVA EP!
April Felton
Each blog post will have an EP question or an electrogram to interpret displayed below along with a detailed answer.
Which x-ray view is helpful in deciphering catheter placement in the ventricle vs. the atrium?
- AP
- PA
- RAO
- LAO
Answer
RAO
RAO view is helpful in dividing the heart into the atrium or ventricle. The coronary sinus is found in the posterior aspect of the AV groove, in between the LA and LV. The CS catheter, therefore, helps in visually identifying what is on the atrial aspect vs. the ventricular. From RAO, we are unable to be determined if the catheter did indeed cross over to the left side of the heart or is simply looping up the septal wall. This is why a physician will often switch back and forth between RAO and LAO.
Thank you for not only blazing the trail for the rest of us, but also being committed to helping us do the same!