Korea University Anam Hospital was recently designated as a 'Center of Excellence,' an international Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) training center for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
A Center of Excellence, which is a designation given by Boston Scientific, is a title awarded to institutions with extensive procedural experience and training capabilities in the relevant field. This designation recognizes the Arrhythmia Center's experience and expertise, including more than 100 PFA procedures performed at Korea University Anam Hospital. With this designation, Anam Hospital plans to share its PFA clinical experience, contributing to training and cooperation to help extend safe and effective treatments.
PFA is a treatment that selectively delivers short but strong electrical impulses to abnormal electrical signal sites that cause atrial fibrillation. Unlike the conventional method of using heat through high frequency or cooling techniques, PFA uses electric field energy.
Korea University Anam Hospital's Arrhythmia Center holds all PFA equipment available in the Korean market. Based on this, the center comprehensively considers heart structure, arrhythmia patterns, underlying diseases, treatment history, and other relevant information to provide the optimal therapy to patients. It is the center's strength that treatment strategies can be customized according to the patients' conditions, without being limited to a single device or specific method.
Since performing Korea's first catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation, Korea University Anam Hospital has been a leader in the treatment of various arrhythmias through drug therapy, catheter ablation, alcohol ablation, and PFA.
In particular, the hospital pioneered the use of a 3D mapping system to visualize the structure and electrical signals of the heart, as well as precisely locate and treat the areas causing arrhythmia.
Since PFA for atrial fibrillation became eligible for national health insurance reimbursement in May 2026, more patients will have easier access to the treatment. Therefore, PFA will be used more widely in the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Also, the role of specialized treatment institutions with extensive experience in procedures and educational capabilities is becoming increasingly important.
Dr. Choi Jong-il of the Department of Cardiology at Anam Hospital said, "This achievement is the result of the Arrhythmia Center staff's efforts to provide safer and more effective treatments to patients. We will continue to provide patient-centered, cutting-edge care as a leading tertiary referral center for complex cardiovascular diseases. Patients have different symptoms and risk levels of atrial fibrillation. With the designation as a Center of Excellence for PFA, we will continue to do our best for the training and treatment of patients so that they can receive safe and precise treatments," he added.
In April 2026, Korea University Anam Hospital's Arrhythmia Center became the first institution in Korea to surpass 8,000 atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. In June, the hospital achieved 100 cases of PFA. These are important indicators showing the long-standing experience and expertise accumulated in the field of arrhythmia treatment in Korea. As for the atrial fibrillation procedure, the number is expected to reach 10,000 cases next year, and the hospital is expected to set an important milestone in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.