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Heart Rhythm (Electrophysiology)

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Overview

Have you ever felt your heart skip a beat? Heart rhythm disorders and arrhythmias are quite common, with symptoms ranging from lightheadedness and dizziness to shortness of breath and fatigue.

UR Medicine’s Electrophysiology program offers some of the most advanced treatments available for heart rhythm disorders. In many cases, our treatments can permanently cure an arrhythmia, so no further medication is needed.

This program includes:

Specialists in the treatment of heart rhythm disorders who treat thousands of cases each year.
Treatments unavailable elsewhere in the Rochester region.
Expertise that attracts patients from all over the world.
Patient access to clinical trials exploring new methods for treating heart rhythm disorders.
Three fully equipped labs for ablation and device implants, staffed by expert nurses and technicians.
World-class expertise in identifying who needs defibrillators to prevent sudden cardiac death.
Specialty clinics, such as the Comprehensive Atrial Fibrillation Clinic and the Hereditary Arrhythmia Clinic.

Our providers are experts in diagnosing and treating patients with heart rhythm issues, including:

Atrial fibrillation
Atrial flutter
Common and complex arrhythmias
Supraventricular tachycardia
Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome
Ventricular tachycardia, bradycardia
Sick sinus syndrome
Atrioventricular heart block
Long QT Syndrome
Brugada Syndrome
Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia.

UR Medicine's Approach

Our specialists create customized treatment plans for heart rhythm problems, addressing each patient’s unique needs. We use targeted tests and procedures to diagnose and treat arrhythmias, with treatment plans tailored to the type and severity of the condition. These plans are always thoroughly discussed with our patients.

Electrophysiology studies, or EP studies, are often used when other types of testing haven’t revealed the cause of symptoms. They’re commonly used to:

Diagnose the source of arrhythmia symptoms
Predict the risk of a future cardiac event, such as sudden cardiac death
Assess the need for a pacemaker, implantable defibrillator, or other treatment procedure such as catheter ablation
Evaluate the effectiveness of certain medications in controlling heart rhythm disorders

At UR Medicine Cardiac Care, EP studies are performed in our three state-of-the-art Electrophysiology labs, including an active magnetic robotic lab with updated computerized mapping and ablation systems. We offer the following procedures:

Atrial fibrillation ablation
Ventricular tachycardia ablation
Implantable leadless pacemakers
Cardioverter-defibrillator implant
Remote monitoring of heart rhythm disorders
Cardioversion
Laser extraction of pacemaker leads

Frequently Asked Questions

What Sets Us Apart?

The Electrophysiology division at the University of Rochester is a world leader. Our clinicians and researchers have led many of the clinical research that have guided how patients with arrhythmia, or at risk for arrhythmia, are cared for.

We offer the most advanced and effective treatments for heart rhythm disorders and perform more of them than any other hospital in the Rochester metropolitan area and surrounding region. In many cases, the treatments we provide are unavailable elsewhere. Other medical centers use our guidelines when deciding which patients need treatment for serious cardiac rhythm problems.

We have three fully equipped labs for ablation and device implants. These labs are staffed by nurses and technicians who work exclusively on heart rhythm disorders. Our newest lab provides robotic navigation for radiofrequency ablation, giving our patients even greater precision, safety and versatility.