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Questions and Answers: A Look at Electrophysiology |
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Heart disease is often thought of as a problem with the arteries supplying the heart, or a problem with the heart muscles. However, some patients have abnormalities in the “electrical” conducting systems that regulate cardiac rate and rhythm. Cardiac electrophysiology is the study of the heart’s electrical system. |
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A: The heart’s electrical system controls the rhythmic contractions that keep the blood pumping and circulating throughout your body. These electrical impulses are controlled by a group of specialized cells known as the sinoatrial (SA) node that act as the heart’s natural pacemaker. Normally, the SA node, acting like a spark plug, spontaneously generates the impulses, which travel through the atria to the atrioventricular (AV) node which then sends the impulses to more specialized muscle fibers throughout the bottom chambers of the heart — the ventricles. We can determine how electrical impulses travel through your heart through an electrocardiogram (ECG/ EKG), a device that shows your heart rhythm and prints it out on paper. Q: What can happen if these electrical pathways are damaged? A: Pathways can become damaged or blocked or, in some people, extra/abnormal pathways exist. In these cases the heart’s rhythm may be too slow, too fast, or irregular, which can seriously affect the heart’s pumping ability which thereby causes blood to circulate ineffectively. As a result, the body does not get the full supply of oxygen that it needs to thrive. Q: What is the treatment if a damaged, blocked or abnormal pathway is found? A: Your doctor may recommend an “electrophysiology study” or “EP study” which offers more detailed information about the electrical activity in the heart as opposed to a noninvasive procedure such as EKG, Holter monitor, event recorder, stress test, echocardiogram, or angiogram, which cannot provide enough information to evaluate an abnormal heart rhythm. This allows your doctor to diagnose abnormalities such as cardiac arrhythmias and arrhythmia-related problems including tachycardia and bradycardia. Continue » |
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