OUTPATIENT PROCEDURE INSTRUCTIONS: DIAGNOSTIC EP TESTING
Purpose of the Test
This test is called an electrophysiology study, or EP study. It is being done to find out whether you may have a heart rhythm problem causing some of your symptoms. If one is discovered, it will be important to find out which type you have. Once the problem is identified, your doctor can recommend what needs to be done.
What You Should Expect During the Test
Usually, 3-5 small tubes called catheters are inserted into blood vessels (veins) in your groin and are brought up into one or more chambers of the heart. Before these catheters are put into the veins, 3-5 short tubes called sheaths are placed into the veins. This allows easy access to the veins and minimizes the number of times your vein has to be stuck with a needle. Once the catheters are placed inside the heart, we can begin to find out what the normal and abnormal behaviors of the heart=s electrical system are and how it might be acting in an abnormal way to cause heart rhythm problems.
During the test, electrical activity from several places in your heart is being recorded. From time to time, the doctor will take over your rhythm by delivering artificial electrical stimuli- known as pacing. You will not likely be aware of these activities and they will not cause any discomfort. One of the most important steps in the EP study is to create the rhythm problem you have been having, if possible, and study its behavior. Once this is done, your doctor will know almost everything there is to know about your heart's electrical behavior and what treatment, if any, is necessary.
In order to have the test, you will be required to sign a consent form which states that you understand what the procedure is all about and that you are aware of a variety of complications which can occur. These include, but are not limited to death, permanent nerve or artery injury with disability involving your arm or leg, poking a hole in the heart or lung, causing a rhythm disturbance that you could not be resuscitated from, skin burns, infection involving any of the puncture sites or blood poisoning. The likelihood of any of these problems developing is less than 0.1% (one in a thousand).