Understanding cardiac arrhythmia to better protect women

Cardiac arrhythmia affects millions of people. However, women possess unique biological characteristics that have not been sufficiently studied. For more than 25 years, Dr. Céline Fiset, a researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute and professor at the faculty of pharmacy at Université de Montréal has been focusing her research projects on these differences, including during pregnancy when hormonal and physiological changes can disturb a person’s heart rhythm.

A career devoted to basic research

After graduating with a degree in pharmaceutical sciences, Dr. Fiset turned to clinical research before ultimately choosing to pursue a career in basic research. Her goal was to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the heart’s electrical system.

Her work aims to establish why women are more vulnerable to certain types of arrhythmias, specifically torsades de pointes, and how hormones play a role in this condition. In fact, her work has demonstrated that estrogen plays a key part in these types of rhythm disorders which could explain why some women develop arrhythmia at certain points in their life, such as when they are pregnant. “Pregnancy is a time of intense hormonal change, and we now know that these changes have a direct impact on the heart’s electrical activities,” said Dr. Fiset.

Major benefits for the cardiovascular health of women 

The heart works harder during pregnancy, which leads to an increase in the resting heart rate. In some women, these changes can lead to severe arrhythmia which can put the health of the mother and child at risk. To better understand the phenomena, Dr. Fiset and her team have been using experimental models. “We use advanced techniques, such as human stem cell cultures to analyze the variations of electrical currants in order to eventually adapt treatments to the specific needs of pregnant women,” she said.

This research is especially important now that more women are becoming pregnant later in life and present risk factors such as high blood pressure or obesity. By improving the scientific community’s understanding of these mechanisms, Dr. Fiset and her team want to help future mothers experience safer, less stressful pregnancies.

Even though Dr. Fiset is a basic researcher, her projects have the potential to lead to tangible medical advances. Identifying the mechanisms that affect the cardiac rhythm of women will lead to a more personalized cardiovascular medicine that aims to continuously improve the care provided to patients.

Shining a spotlight on research

For many years, Dr. Fiset was the only woman in basic research at the MHI. Today, her expertise and dedication have made her a leader in the field of arrythmia and gender differences. By training the next generation of scientific researchers and raising awareness about the issue in the medical community, she has been contributing to sustainable change. “Future generations of researchers need to take gender differences into account even in the initial phases of their studies and research projects,” she said.

Thanks to her meticulous, innovative work, Dr. Fiset has been able to propel the field of cardiac electrophysiology forward and advance research that addresses the specific health needs of women to ensure they can experience safe pregnancies.