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Electrophysiology tests the electrical activity of the patient’s heart to find where an arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat) is coming from. These results can assist the doctor in deciding the need for medication, pacemaker, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), cardiac ablation, or surgery. These studies take place in a special room called an electrophysiology (EP) lab or catheterization (cath) lab while the patient is mildly sedated.

When someone’s heart doesn’t beat normally, doctors use EP to determine why. Electrical signals usually travel through the heart in a regular pattern; heart attacks, aging, and high blood pressure may cause scarring of the heart. This may cause the heart to beat in an irregular (uneven) pattern. Extra abnormal electrical pathways found in certain congenital heart defects can also cause arrhythmias.

• Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia diagnosed contributing to angina, heart failure, and devastating strokes. Myocardial muscle fibers extending from the left atrium of the heart into the pulmonary veins are known triggers of atrial fibrillation. The irregular atrial activation is the result of pathophysiological changes in the myocardial muscle fibers, causing atrial remodeling usually from heart disease or sustained rapid heart rates. Cardiac ablation therapy is also done in the catheterization lab using femoral catheters as well as pacemaker insertions and cardioversions.