Electrophysiology procedures: Ablation: Helping your heartbeat get back in sync

During an ablation procedure, your doctor locates and eliminates the abnormal electrical circuits or areas in your heart that are causing your irregular heartbeats.

Electrical pathways in your heart regulate your heartbeat. When these signals malfunction, your heartbeat can speed up or become irregular. This can cause symptoms, and in some cases result in dangerous blood clots.

Ablation uses thermal (heat or cold) or pulsed-field (short bursts of high energy) techniques to create a small scar that targets the area in your heart creating the abnormal heartbeat. This lesion blocks the irregular electrical pathway.

Your doctor uses a thin, flexible tube called a catheter to reach your heart. Your doctor threads the catheter through a blood vessel to reach the abnormal area in your heart.

Your procedure takes place in a room specifically designed to treat heart rhythm problems, which includes cardiology and X-ray equipment. You lay on an X-ray table with a large camera above it and monitors nearby.

Your heart rhythm is monitored with electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings during the procedure. Your nurse will place ECG pads on your body. These pads can also shock your heart into a regular rhythm during your procedure if needed.

You get medication to keep you comfortable and relaxed during the ablation.

After you are comfortable, depending on the type of abnormal heart rhythm you have, your doctor may:

• Place catheters through blood vessels in your groin and/or neck

• Create a hole in the membrane between your right and left atrium

• Thin your blood with heparin to prevent clotting

• Create a map of your heart using catheters and CT or MRI scans of your heart

• Use small electrical currents to trigger your irregular heartbeat

• Pinpoint the area that triggers your irregular heartbeat

Once the area triggering your irregular heartbeat is located, your doctor:

• Places a catheter next to the abnormal area of heart tissue

• Delivers heat or cold energy to eliminate the tissue causing the abnormal heart rhythm.

 You may feel mild chest discomfort when ablation is being performed, and you will likely feel tired and uncomfortable from lying still throughout the procedure.