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Heart & Vascular

Cardiac Cath Lab Rhythm Procedures

Find a hospital that provides Cardiac Cath Lab Rhythm Procedures

Intermountain Healthcare utilizes an integrated system approach to deliver the best patient care, consistently and at the lowest appropriate cost. We use the expertise from our hospitals, clinics, and health plan to ensure excellent and consistent care no matter which Intermountain facility you visit.

Find a hospital that provides Cardiac Cath Lab Rhythm Procedures

Cardiac Cath Lab Rhythm Procedures

Electrophysiology Study (EP)

Electrophysiology studies are helpful to diagnose and evaluate abnormal heart rates and rhythms. This procedure is performed in the cardiac cath lab. During the test, one or more specialized EP catheters is guided into the heart, where it sends small electrical impulses.

How the heart responds to these impulses can reveal what might be causing heart rhythm abnormalities, and how best to treat them. EP studies are often done before treatment procedures such as ablation or placement of devices such as pacemakers or ICDs.

Laser Lead Extraction
Cardiac leads are the wires that connect the heart with an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICDs), such as a pacemaker. At times, a cardiac lead may need to be removed and replaced because it is not working properly, scar tissue builds up, the tissue around the lead becomes infected, or because an upgrade is necessary. Extracting the lead surgically can create complications. Laser lead extraction is a safer strategy that uses cold, carefully controlled laser energy to remove scar tissue around the lead and then extract the lead using a catheter. Laser lead extraction is performed in the cardiac cath lab.

Pacemakers and ICDs
To correct abnormal heart rhythms (arrythmias) and help your heart beat more efficiently, your doctor may recommend a device implant. The most common device implants are pacemakers and implantable cardioverter/defibrillators (ICDs). These devices are usually implanted in the cardiac cath lab, but may also be implanted during surgery.

Pacemakers: A pacemaker is a small implanted device that corrects heart rhythms that are too slow or are out of synch. This device mimics the action of your heart’s natural pacemaker—the cluster of cells that creates an electrical impulse to make the heart beat. A pacemaker generally has two parts: a pulse generator (the battery and electrical circuitry that creates and regulates the electrical pulses) and one to three leads (small wires that send the electrical pulses to your heart). After the pacemaker is implanted, it monitors factors such as your blood temperature and breathing, and supplies the electrical pulses needed to adjust your heart rate to your body’s needs.

Implantable Cardioverter/Defibrillators (ICDs): ICDs are usually used to prevent or treat dangerously fast or chaotic arrhythmias called ventricular tachycardia (v-tach) or ventricular fibrillation (v-fib). Here’s how they work:

If the heart begins to beat abnormally fast, the ICD sends a low-energy electrical impulse (shock) to the heart at the same time as the regular heartbeat.
If the heart is beating dangerously fast or chaotically, the ICD sends a high-energy shock to the heart muscle to restore a normal rhythm.

A biventricular ICD helps coordinate the pumping action of the heart. Heart failure can sometimes distort the timing of the ventricles (the lower chambers of the heart) so they don’t pump in unison. While a regular pacemaker sends an electrical signal to just the right ventricle, a biventricular ICD sends a signal to both ventricles to prompt them to pump at the same time. This helps the heart beat more efficiently and can improve heart failure symptoms.