DeRosa to undergo procedure

DeRosa to undergo procedure
Doctors hope EPS can correct cause of irregular heartbeat
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

MESA, Ariz. -- Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa will undergo a procedure Thursday in Chicago in which doctors hope can correct what is causing his irregular heartbeat.

Team physician Dr. Stephen Adams, speaking on DeRosa's behalf, said DeRosa was examined Tuesday by Dr. Alan Kadish, a cardiovascular electrophysiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

DeRosa will undergo an electrophysiology study (EPS) in which Kadish will put a catheter in a vein, probably the femural vein, Adams said. The EPS is done in an attempt to induce an atrial arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.

Depending on what the doctors find, Adams said, DeRosa may undergo a radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA), which is an attempt to cure the past problems of jumping into atrial arrhythmia.

The procedure usually takes about one hour, depending on what the doctors do.

Adams tried to use baseball to explain what DeRosa's heart was doing. The normal route for a baserunner is home to first base, then second, third and home. If a baserunner was having an arrhythmia, the path would would take someone from first, then across the pitcher's mound to third, then home.

"Essentially, what they're doing [with the EPS] is looking to see if there's a pathway where you run across or is there a way of taking a shortcut, and if there is a shortcut, then you build a fence," Adams said. "That's what the catheter ablation does."

If all goes well, and depending on what the doctors find, DeRosa could return to Arizona on Sunday and could resume taking batting practice by the beginning of next week. Adams said if DeRosa passes all the tests, he could be going "full throttle" by the end of next week.

"The feeling is that if they can induce it, then they cauterize it or do the RFA," Adams said. "After, they try to re-induce it to see if it happens again."

DeRosa, who turned 33 on Tuesday, was first diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat when he was a teen, and he told the Cubs medical staff that it has been occurring with increasing frequency.

"His concern is that he doesn't want this to happen in the middle of a game, and he would have to come out of a game," Adams said. "The cardiologist thinks the next step is to do EPS, and during the EPS, do the catheter ablation."

Adams has talked to DeRosa, who has been in Chicago since Monday.

"He's in an excellent mood, ready to go, very open," Adams said. "His perspective is it's nothing to be ashamed of, and many people have similar problems with dysrhythmia, and he felt good with the evaluation from the cardiologists."

The Cubs have been injury free in camp.

"The only serious concern is DeRosa," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Wednesday. "We're thinking about Mark and everything's going to go fine, and he'll be back here this weekend."

DeRosa was taken to a Mesa hospital on Saturday after experiencing an extended atrial rhythmia during drills. His heart condition is not expected to keep him from playing this year.