Health Pro: Cardiologist passionate about keeping your heart ticking – Florida Today

FLORIDA TODAY Published 6:49 a.m. ET Oct. 20, 2020

Dr.Porur E.Somasundaram is acardiac electrophysiologist, cardiologist & internist for Steward's Rockledge Regional Medical Center.(Photo: Steward Medical Group)

Dr.Porur E.Somasundaram is acardiac electrophysiologist, cardiologist & internist for Steward's Rockledge Regional Medical Center.

Q: Why did you go into this career?

A: Initially, it was because I had been living away from my parents and they needed my help, so I moved closer to home. Medical school was nearby, so I decided to come closer to home.

Q: What services do you provide?

A: Were making people live longer and live better. I manage patients with syncope, atrial fibrillation and adult congenital heart defects. My work is to prevent sudden cardiac death and to treat electrical abnormalities of the heart. I am also interested in providing mechanical therapies to prevent stroke in patients who have atrial fibrillation.

In treating these conditions, I offer ablations, pacemaker insertions, defibrillator implant surgery and many other procedures. I also implant the Watchman device, which reduces the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Q: What makes this area of medicine fulfilling for you?

A: Electrophysiology is a fairly new discipline, developed in the last 40 years or so. There are lots of unknowns. We are still learning about it, which makes it exciting and challenging. I get to network with other electrophysiologists across the world to find solutions to intriguing problems. At the same time, I can disseminate that information to primary care physicians and to patients.

Interventional cardiology is a mature subspecialty. It's like the Mississippi River, which begins as a narrow stream in Itasca, Minnesota. The farther down you go, the river broadens and swells. As people live longer, there are newer problems evolving.

Electrophysiology corresponds to the point that New Orleans occupies on the river. It involves taking care of the more advanced problems that are created with people living longer, and improving their quality of life by other subspecialties of cardiology. The rapid evolution of electrophysiology always challenges my intellectual capacity.

Q: When did you realize this was the right medical career path for you?

At Buffalo, New York, where I did my residency, there was an electrophysiologist who inspired me. The solutions he offered were unique, and that had an influence on me.

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Q: Whats the latest advancement in your field that will benefit patients?

A: Whats really coming into play now is the Watchman device. Ablation for atrial fibrillation is becoming more and more important and is now mainstream treatment. The devices are getting smaller all the time.

During the last 20 years, there has been an evolution of understanding, of treatments and technologies theyre just getting better and better. We can now help patients in more advanced stages of disease. There is a new field of electriceuticals (electrical therapies) emerging, which helps in advancing quality of care. It is also helping people live longer.

Q: Best advice for current and potential patients?

A: In addition to the usual advice exercise, stay stress-free, practice good dietary patterns be sure to take advantage of the medical technology now available.

On television, youll see ads for products that allow you to do ECGs at home. Older people in Florida can benefit from devices that evaluate them in the convenience of their homes.

If, indeed, they discover atrial fibrillation, they should consult their physician. The most important objective is to prevent strokes if they find this abnormal rhythm.

Lots of advancements are coming to the phones in the form of apps to check the blood pressure, sugars, oxygen saturation, etc. These advancements will put some of the diagnostic capabilities into peoples hands, in the convenience of their homes, to diagnose and monitor illnesses.

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Get to Know Your Health Pro

Name: Porur E. Somasundaram, MD

Where youre based: Rockledge Regional Medical Center,Steward Heart Rhythm Associates,119 Longwood Ave.,Rockledge, FL 32955

Phone: (321) 632-6963

On the web:rockledgeregional.org

Education: I went to medical school at Madras Medical College, University of Madras in Madras, India. My residency was at Millard Fillmore Hospital, SUNY at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. I completed my cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and then went on to complete my electrophysiology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at Los Angeles.

Professional Background: During my long medical career, I have practiced in India, the U.K. and the United States. Most recently, I was a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at St. Lukes Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota, where I practiced for about 11 years.

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