Treatment and Management

Treatments for Arrhythmia

We provide several safe and effective treatment options for patients with irregular heartbeat. We have successfully treated thousands of patients and have extensive experience with the newest pacemaker devices and heart ablation techniques.

• Lifestyle Changes

  Changing some of your daily habits may improve your irregular heartbeat. These include reducing stress and cutting down on caffeine. Caffeine makes the heart work harder and can cause skipped heartbeats. Your doctor will tell you how much caffeine is safe for you.

• Medications

  Heart rhythm medications, also called antiarrhythmics, control irregular heartbeats and maintain a normal heart rate and rhythm.

• Cardioversion

  In this procedure, an electrical shock is delivered to the heart through the chest to stop certain very fast arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, or atrial flutter. The patient is connected to an EKG (electrocardiogram) monitor, which is also connected to the defibrillator. The doctor delivers the electrical shock at a precise point during the EKG cycle to convert the rhythm to a normal one.

• Heart Ablation

  This is a technique that ablates (destroys) a very small, targeted area of your heart muscle that is responsible for your irregular heart rhythm. Heart ablation restores a normal heartbeat. It is also called catheter ablation or radiofrequency ablation.

• Stereotaxis Robotic Navigation

  This technology, also called “stereotaxis” for short, uses computer-controlled magnets to steer catheters through the patient’s blood vessels and heart chambers. The magnets are positioned on either side of the patient table. Doctors can use this technology with heart ablation to treat irregular heartbeats.

• Pacemaker and ICD Insertion

  In these procedures, a heart rhythm doctor implants a small device below your collar bone. The devices correct heart rhythms that are too slow, too fast, or are out of synch.

• MAZE Procedure

  The MAZE procedure is a surgery that treats an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. The procedure is named for the maze-like network of scars that your heart surgeon creates on your heart muscle. The scars redirect the heart's electrical impulses, eliminating erratic signals and restoring the heart's normal rhythm and function.

• GALAXY Procedure

  The GALAXY procedure (also known as "mini-MAZE") is similar to the MAZE procedure, but it is less invasive. It treats atrial fibrillation without the use of the heart-lung machine and with smaller, less painful incisions.