Cardiac Ablation for Arrhythmia

Cardiac ablation helps get rid of heart beats that are too fast, called tachycardia arrhythmias.

These fast heart beats happen because there is a problem with the heart’s electrical system. With ablation, we can eliminate the electrical signals that are causing the arrhythmia. Once the signals are gone, the arrhythmia is gone.

Ablation uses catheter technology. A catheter is a thin tube that goes into a vein and is carefully threaded to the heart. The EP can see the catheter the whole time by using imaging technology.

The EP can pinpoint where the arrhythmia is coming from by doing something called a pacing test. Once the EP finds the exact location, they can use the catheter to either burn or freeze the abnormal circuit. The EP will then do the pacing test again, to make sure the arrhythmia is gone.

EPs most commonly use cardiac ablation to treat children with arrhythmias such as:

• Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)
• Ventricular tachycardia (VT)
• Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

We provide world-class care for children with arrhythmia, offering:

• Highly-ranked heart care: U.S.News & World Report ranks us among the top hospitals for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery.
• Dedicated electrophysiology team: Our EP team is nationally known for excellence in diagnosing and treating arrhythmia in children.
• Latest ablation techniques: The standard is radiofrequency ablation, which uses heat to burn tissue causing the arrhythmia. But we also offer cryoablation therapy. This uses cold to freeze the tissue and is safer for treating some types of arrhythmia.
• Low complication rate: Our rate of complications from cardiac ablation is lower than the national average.
• State-of-the-art heart care unit: Children recover from cardiac ablation in our 44-bed Regenstein Cardiac Care Unit, where cardiology attending physicians are available 24/7. This means the most senior expert is always there.