Cardiac electrophysiology

In our Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Center, we offer groundbreaking AFib ablation surgery in our innovative hybrid treatment rooms. These procedures are called “hybrid” because they combine electrophysiology (using a catheter inside the heart) with heart surgery – without opening the chest to pinpoint and destroy AFib-causing tissue.

Working as teams, our doctors use catheters to destroy problematic tissue both on the inside and outside of your heart. This procedure is proving much more effective than traditional catheter ablation, which destroys damaged tissue on just the interior of the heart.

Within these hybrid ORs, our specialists – electrophysiologists along with cardiologists, heart surgeons and others – can perform minimally invasive catheter treatments and surgical procedures at the same time. For you, that means faster, safer treatment that requires less time in the hospital.

To help your heart automatically maintain a predictable rhythm, we’ll permanently implant a battery-powered pacemaker into your chest. With a heart pacemaker in place, your symptoms of heart arrhythmias, such as tiredness and syncope (fainting), may significantly decrease.

Many pacemakers have one or two wires, called leads, that connect to your heart and help you maintain a regular heartbeat. A single chamber pacemaker uses one lead connected to either an upper or lower chamber of your heart while a dual chamber implant connects to both chambers.

For some people, we can also use new leadless (wireless) pacemakers. These work well for people who have a slow heart rate and need a pacemaker to help only in a single heart chamber.

For serious arrhythmias that can cause your heart to stop, we can implant a pacemaker that includes an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which sends a small electrical charge to your heart to restore a normal heart rhythm.

We also can implant a biventricular pacemaker to keep both lower chambers of your heart pumping at the same time and syncing them with the upper chambers. Your doctor might suggest this if your heart failure makes the chambers contract at different times, creating an inefficient heartbeat that stresses your heart and can leave you tired and short of breath. We use a biventricular pacemaker in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

If you have atrial fibrillation (AFib) or an atrial flutter, your doctor might recommend electrical cardioversion. This treatment can restore your heart to a normal rhythm if it consistently beats irregularly or too fast. The electrical cardioversion procedure includes placing electrodes on your chest that send small electrical pulses to your heart.

Your doctor may recommend cardiac ablation if medicine doesn’t control your heart rhythm problem or you’re in danger of experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. Ablation uses either gentle burning or freezing to treat small areas of heart muscle that are causing your abnormal heart rhythm.

You might be a candidate for an ablation procedure if you have AFib symptoms and medications haven’t worked for you, or if you experience side effects from arrhythmia medicines.

Your risk of having a stroke increases if you have atrial fibrillation (AFib) or an arrhythmia. We’ll work with you to determine the best treatment plan to minimize your risk. Treatment methods can include:

• Blood thinners such as warfarin to help lower the blood’s ability to form clots.
• Left atrial appendage closure devices, which are implanted, to help prevent blood clots in the left atrial appendage from entering the bloodstream
• Other medications to control pulse rate or improve rhythm control
• Cardiac ablation if medicine doesn’t control your heart rhythm problem

Endoscopic laser balloon ablation is a new minimally invasive type of cardiac ablation for patients diagnosed with AFib. This nonsurgical AFib treatment offers focused and precise ablation within pulmonary veins. Using an endoscopic balloon, surgeons can see directly into the patient’s heart which enables stable and effective contact and allows for precise treatment within pulmonary veins.

Your doctor might recommend endoscopic laser balloon ablation as a first option to treat AFib or if medications to control your heart rhythm aren’t helping. Endoscopic laser balloon procedures are faster and more accurate than other AFib treatments. There’s also a lower risk of complications.