Electrophysiology

Med Center Health’s Electrophysiology Laboratory specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythms. Irregular heart beats, racing pulse rate or the feeling of “fluttering” can point to more serious medical conditions. Electrophysiology testing evaluates the heart’s electrical system, diagnoses problems and guides treatment.


Getting Your Heart and Life back into Rhythm through Electrophysiology

The Electrophysiology Lab at The Medical Center at Bowling Green diagnoses and treats adult patients with cardiac arrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythms, and helps determine severity and best treatment options for each individual. Sometimes, some people have occasional, irregular heartbeats that may feel like a fluttering or racing heart. Others may cause worsening medical conditions or can be life-threatening.

Arrhythmia can strike anyone at any age. But the condition is particularly common among older adults. While the cause is often unclear, some risk factors can cause symptoms, or make them worse, such as blocked arteries from coronary artery disease; scarring of heart tissue, such as from a heart attack; changes to the heart’s structure or enlargement; high blood pressure; stress; diabetes; overactive thyroid gland; use of caffeine, tobacco, heavy alcohol or drugs; some medications such as cough and cold medicines, dietary supplements and herbal treatments.

Electrophysiologists at The Medical Center at Bowling Green are specially-trained cardiologists who focus on heart rhythm irregularities, and can diagnose each patient’s particular arrhythmia. Conditions include slow rhythms, fast rhythms, fainting spells (called syncope) and skipped heart beats. Another condition is atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular and often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow to the body. It’s where the heart’s two upper chambers (called the atria) beat out of coordination with the lower two chambers.

Electrophysiology Testing is a procedure that evaluates the electrical system of the heart, diagnoses the type and location of the rhythm disturbance and guides treatment. Using the CARTOTM XP Navigation System, doctors can create three-dimensional maps of the heart to show electrical activity and help find the arrhythmia.

The latest advances in arrhythmia treatment options can often control or eliminate irregular heartbeats, help prevent sudden cardiac death and provide advanced treatment of congestive heart failure. Some options include radiofrequency ablation, pacemaker implantation, defibrillator implantation, biventricular defibrillator implantation (for the advanced treatment of congestive heart failure), cardioversion shock to help restore normal heart rhythm and others. Let our experts diagnose and recommend the best treatment for you.

Treatments and services

  • Radiofrequency ablation – treats and cures fast heart rhythms and has been shown to help atrial and ventricular arrhythmias such as Wolfe-Parkinson-White Syndrome, Atrial Flutter, Supraventricular Tachycardia and Premature Ventricular Contractions.
  • Pacemaker implantation – treats slow heart rhythms.
  • Defibrillator implantation – helps prevent sudden cardiac death.
  • Biventricular defibrillator implantation – advanced treatment of congestive heart failure.
  • Loop recorder implantation – evaluates unexplained fainting spells.
  • Cardioversion – electrical stimulus for fast heart rhythm patients to shock heart back into a normal rhythm.
  • Tilt table testing – to help evaluate patients with fainting or syncope.