Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Texas Medical Center

Screening & Diagnosis

Cardiac Electrophysiology

Cardiac electrophysiology measures the electrical activity of the heart. Electrophysiology studies are done to diagnose arrhythmias, an irregular or abnormal heart rhythm, or to access the heart for treatment of certain conditions. They also help to predict the risk of a future cardiac event.

At the Heart & Vascular Institute-TMC, our electrophysiology team provides a complete array of advanced treatment options for patients diagnosed with arrhythmia, including atrial fibrillation, which affects 2.2 million Americans, other supraventricular arrhythmias and ventricular tachycardia, a less common and potentially life-threatening arrhythmia. Treatment ranges from proven noninvasive interventions to advanced device therapy to groundbreaking minimally invasive procedures that reduce trauma and allow for faster recovery. Through participation in clinical research trials, our patients also have access to leading-edge treatments unavailable at other medical centers.

For patients who don’t respond to or don’t tolerate medication, our innovative use of minimally invasive maze surgery has a high success rate in stopping atrial fibrillation, allowing patients to return to work in a few days, compared to four to six weeks for the traditional open-heart maze procedure.

We also have a success rate of more than 90 percent with minimally invasive radiofrequency catheter ablation in patients with supraventricular tachycardias and ventricular tachycardia who qualify for the procedure. Physicians use fluoroscopy to guide a thin, flexible catheter through a blood vessel to the heart cells causing the abnormal rhythm. Radiofrequency energy emitted from an electrode on the catheter’s tip destroys the abnormal cells.