Albania . Algeria . Armenia . Austria . Azerbaijan . Belarus . Belgium . Bosnia & Herzegovina . Bulgaria Croatia . Cyprus.Czech Republic . Denmark . Egypt . Estonia . Finland . Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia . France . Georgia Germany . Greece . Hungary . Iceland . Ireland . Israel . Italy . Kosovo Latvia . Lebanon . Libya . Lithuania . Luxembourg . Malta . Montenegro . Morocco . Netherlands . Norway Poland . Portugal . Republic of Moldova . Romania . Russian Federation . San Marino . Serbia Slovakia . Slovenia . Spain . Sweden . Switzerland . Syria . Tunisia . Turkey . Ukraine . United Kingdom 2012 The EHRA White Book The Current Status of Cardiac Electrophysiology in ESC Member Countries A. Auricchio, K.-H. Kuck, R. Hatala, F. Arribas www.escardio.org/EHRA Acknowledgments EHRA would like to express its appreciation to BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG for their support of this book. Preface – The EHRA White Book 2012: fifth edition The White Book of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) has become a reference for those seeking information about electrophysiological procedures and implantation of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) in Europe. No other publication provides such a comprehensive collection of data from 46 of the 54 member countries of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Moreover, the EHRA White Book contains valuable updated information about country demographics, key national healthcare and educational information, and reports about possible obstacles to ESC Guidelines implementation in each country. Since its founding, the spirit and methodology of the project remain unchanged, yet the data fields and questionnaire have been reviewed and refined every year. Thus, the current edition offers more details about reimbursement availability in each of the ESC countries and, for the first time, it provides additional unique information on lead extractions. The EHRA White Book represents a successful and tangible attempt by the leading European scientific rhythmologic society to serve its principal mission - to improve the quality of life of the European population by reducing the impact of cardiac arrhythmias and reduce sudden cardiac death. The EHRA White Book is a platform to monitor the yearly status of treatment of arrhythmia in ESC countries as well as to assess its dynamics and progressive harmonisation in access to healthcare for arrhythmia treatment over the years. Data collection is mostly the result of voluntary participation of each national Working Group or National Cardiac Society. In the vast majority of ESC countries, well established centralised databases of both CIEDs and catheter ablation procedures exists. The databases are created and maintained in full autonomy by each national Working Group / National Cardiac Society on arrhythmias and electrophysiology. However, in some ESC countries the data is limited, thus an estimate is provided and clearly indicated in the book; in a few countries there are currently no registries. Consequently, the EHRA White Book should serve as motivation for these countries to adopt a systematic approach to key data on arrhythmia therapy. Despite the heterogeneous source of information, consistency over the years does exist. EHRA is very grateful to all national Working Groups for their continuous support to White Book. As in the past, every new edition not only contains last year’s data but also an update of last year’s information following a process of continuous refinement and improvement. This year’s the edition includes data from 46 countries, the largest number to date. The EHRA White Book has been made possible thanks to the efforts of several key contributors: Prof. Christian Wolpert and Prof. Panos Vardas as founding fathers of the EHRA White Book, all chairs and co- chairs of national Working Groups / National Cardiac Societies of the 54 ESC countries, all EHRA staff at the European Heart House, and last but not least the project sponsor, BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG company and in particular Sandy Hathaway, Arnika Kiel and Robert Wüstenberg. To all of them goes our deepest gratitude and appreciation. Prof. Angelo Auricchio, EHRA President (2011-2013) Prof. Karl-Heinz Kuck, EHRA President-Elect Prof. Robert Hatala, Chairman of the EHRA National Societies Committee Prof. Fernando Arribas, EHRA White Book 2012 Coordinator, Member of the EHRA National Societies Committee The EHRA White Book 2012 . 3 Table of Contents 1. List of Authors 7 2. Scope and Methodology 13 3. ESC Countries Overview 17 Albania 19 Algeria 21 Armenia 23 Austria 33 Azerbaijan 43 Belarus 53 Belgium 63 Bosnia & Herzegovina 73 Bulgaria 83 Croatia 93 Cyprus 103 Czech Republic 113 Denmark 123 Egypt 133 Estonia 143 Finland 153 France 163 Georgia 173 Germany 183 Greece 193 Hungary 203 Iceland 213 Ireland 223 Israel 233 Italy 243 Kosovo 253 Latvia 255 4 . The EHRA White Book 2012 Lebanon 265 Libya 267 Lithuania 269 Luxembourg 279 Macedonia FYR 289 Malta 299 Montenegro 309 Morocco 319 Netherlands 329 Norway 339 Poland 349 Portugal 359 Republic of Moldova 369 Romania 371 Russian Federation 381 San Marino 391 Serbia 401 Slovakia 411 Slovenia 421 Spain 431 Sweden 441 Switzerland 451 Syria 461 Tunisia 463 Turkey 473 Ukraine 475 United Kingdom 485 4. Sources 495 5. Appendix – EHRA Certification 505 The EHRA White Book 2012 . 5 1. List of Authors The EHRA White Book 2012 . 7 1. List of Authors EHRA would like to express a sincere thank you to those below who took their time collecting, researching and compiling valuable information about their current status of treatment of arrhythmias. They should be considered coauthors of this book: Armenia Svetlana Grigoryan Ashot Hovhannesyan Austria Gabriele Jakl Clemens Steinwender General Hospital Linz Azerbaijan Farid Aliyev Zakyeva Ulviya Belarus Alexandr Chasnoits Belgium Georges H. Mairesse Bosnia and Herzegovina Boris M. Goronja Prof. Kacila Prof. Nurkic Dr. Uncanin Prof. Fazlibegovic Dr. Delic and Prof. Maric Bulgaria Svetoslav Iovev Croatia Robert Bernat Cyprus Panayiotis Avraamides Czech Republic Jan Bytesnik Milos Taborsky Robert Cihak Denmark Helen Høgh Petersen Egypt Wagdy Galal Mervat AboulMaaty Mohammed Hassan Khalil Khairy Abdel Dayem Estonia Jüri Voitk Finland Antti Hedman 8 . The EHRA White Book 2012 France Jean-Claude Deharo Georgia Giorgi Papiashvili Germany Carsten W. Israel Greece Michail Efraimidis Hungary László Gellér Iceland David O. Arnar Gizur Gottskalksson Ireland David Keane Siobhann Jennings Regina Black Israel Mahmoud Suleiman All members of the IWGPE Michael Glikson Italy Maria Grazia Bongiorni Maurizio Landolina Latvia Oskars Kalejs Maija Vikmane Lithuania Audrius Aidietis Germanas Marinskis Luxembourg Camille Pesch Carlo Dimmer Laurent Groben Macedonia FYR : Nikola Gjorgov Malta M. Sammut T. Tilney The EHRA White Book 2012 . 9 1. List of Authors Montenegro Ljilja Music Morocco Abdelali Salima Filiale de rythmologie de la SMC Netherlands Enno T. van de Velde Serge. A. I. P. Trines Norway Erik Kongsgaard Eivind S. Platou Poland Przemyslaw Mitkowski Grzegorz Opolski Portugal Carlos Morais Francisco Madeira Mario Oliveira Vitor Martins Romania Dan Dobreanu Radu Vatasescu Gheorghe Dan Mihaela Grecu Alexandru Deutsch Russian Federation Amiran Revishvili San Marino Liano Marinelli Marina Foscoli Serbia Goran Milasinovic Slovakia Robert Hatala Gabriel Kaliská Slovenia Peter Rakovec Spain Ignacio Fernandez Lozano Sweden Johan Brandt Switzerland Christian Sticherling Jürg Fuhrer Istvan Babota 10 . The EHRA White Book 2012