Our professionals
Dr. Ignacio García Bolao
Director of the Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery
Cardiology Specialist
Preferred focus on the study and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias
Professional career
Medical Degree, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Navarra, 1989.
Cardiology Specialist (MIR). Training center: Clínica Universidad de Navarra, 1994.
PhD in Medicine and Surgery, Universidad de Navarra, 1994.
In 1996, he completed subspecialty training in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Arrhythmia Unit of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.
Certified in Cardiac Pacing and Cardiac Electrophysiology by the Spanish Society of Cardiology and the European Society of Cardiology.
Director of the Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery at Clínica Universidad de Navarra since June 2009.
He developed the Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias Unit at Clínica Universidad de Navarra.
RESEARCH AREAS
- He has participated in 36 R&D&I research projects.
- Member of the Editorial Board of Revista Española de Cardiología since 2012.
- He has supervised 4 doctoral theses.
AREAS OF INTEREST
More than 6,000 invasive cardiac electrophysiology procedures as first operator. Expert in the following techniques:
- Diagnostic cardiac electrophysiology studies.
- Radiofrequency ablation of conventional substrates.
- Ablation of complex arrhythmic substrates: ventricular tachycardias and complex macroreentrant tachycardias.
- Atrial fibrillation ablation (> 4,000 procedures as first operator, including RF, PVAC, cryoablation, nMarq, and pulsed field ablation).
- Non-fluoroscopic navigation (including NavX Velocity (700), CARTO 3 (100), Noga, Rhythmia (>1,500 procedures), and MediGuide (> 50 procedures).
- Implantation and follow-up of pacemakers, defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization devices (>500 CRT).
- Percutaneous lead extraction.
- Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure (proctor for the Watchman and Amulet systems) (>250 procedures, 43 in 2021).
- Pioneer in pulsed field ablation for atrial fibrillation, with more than 600 procedures performed.
- Pioneer in the concomitant technique of atrial fibrillation ablation and percutaneous left atrial appendage closure since 2012.
- He has served as a supervisor and instructor in electrophysiology procedures at more than 100 hospitals across different countries on all five continents.
Activity
In teaching
- Professor (tenured), Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Navarra, since 2010 (accreditation as University Professor by ANECA, 2009).
- Awarded three six-year research periods (“sexenios”) by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity.
In research
- He has written more than 235 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
- More than 275 oral and written communications in national and international congresses (73 in international congresses).
- More than 126 invited papers in scientific conferences and seminars.
Scientific organizations
- Associate member of the Spanish Society of Cardiology.
- Numerary Member of the Spanish Society of Cardiology.
- Member of the Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias Section of the S.E.C.
- Member of the Pacemaker Section of the S.E.C.
- Member of the Section of Heart Failure and other therapeutic alternatives of the S.E.C.
- Member of the Vasconavarra Society of Cardiology.
- Member of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society since 1998.
- Member of the International Society for Holter and Non-Invasive Electrocardiology since 1998.
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Vasconavarra Society of Cardiology (2002-7).
- Secretary of the Basque-Navarre Society of Cardiology from 2002-2007.
- Member of the European Heart Rhythm Association since 2004.
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Arrhythmia Section of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (2006- 12).
- FESC. Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology.