Handbook of Cardiac Electrophysiology

Dr. Andrea Natale is the Medical Director for the Center for Atrial Fibrillation, Director of the Electrophysiology Laboratories, and Section Head of Pacing and Electrophysiology in the Cleveland Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. As a cardiologist, he is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine, cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology, and by the Italian Board of Medicine and the Italian Board of Cardiology. Dr. Natale specializes in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms. He has pioneered some of the present catheter based cures for atrial fibrillation. He was also the first electrophysiologist in the nation to perform percutaneous epicardial radiofrequency ablation, which is a treatment for patients who fail conventional ablations. In 2004, Dr. Natale was named among the Best Doctors in America. Dr. Natale was born in Siracusa, Italy. He graduated summa cum laude from the Medical School of the University of Firenze, Italy in 1985 and summa cum laude from the Catholic University School of Cardiology in Rome, Italy. Dr. Natale received his clinical training in cardiology at Methodist Hospital, Baylor College in Houston, Texas and at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. After completing a clinical fellowship in cardiology (electrophysiology) at the University of Western Ontario in 1991, he further trained in cardiology (electrophysiology) at the University of Wisconsin, Sinai Samaritan Medical Center in Milwaukee. He was appointed to the Cleveland Clinic in 1999. Dr. Natale has held several academic appointments including Head of the Cardiovascular Physiopathology Section, Italian Air Force, Aerospace Research Centre, Department of Medicine, Rome, Italy; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director of Electrophysiology Laboratory, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; and Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Electrophysiology Program, University of Kentucky, Lexington.