The prevalence of heart disease in Australia is one in 20 persons. But, in Sydney, it is higher than the national average. Hence, it is wise to have some information about cardiologists in your area.
An electrophysiologist, also called a cardiac electrophysiologist, is a doctor who focuses on irregular heartbeats and the heart’s electrical system. This kind of specialist is also called an arrhythmia specialist or an electrophysiologist.
Electrophysiologists look at how your heart works electrically. Find out everything related to electrophysiologist in Sydney and how they can help.
Is there a significant difference between electrophysiologists and cardiologists?
As you presumably already know, the heart’s primary job is circulating blood to the body’s other tissues and organs. Physicians specialising in cardiac disease pay special attention to that chamber. However, you probably don’t think much about how your heart performs the primary function of circulating blood throughout the body. It achieves this by means of electrical pulses, the irregularity of which may lead to arrhythmias. To put it simply, here is where electrophysiologists really shine.
Some cardiologists spend as little as a year learning about electrophysiology. Alternatively, electrophysiologists focus on the heart’s electrical mechanism and learn to identify and treat irregular heartbeats.
How does electrophysiologist Sydney help patients?
Heart conduction abnormalities may be diagnosed and treated by an electrophysiologist. They figure out what’s causing your heart’s erratic beat and why electrical impulses aren’t following the expected routes. A cardiac electrophysiologist has the expertise to distinguish between bothersome arrhythmias that pose no real risk and those that might be fatal.
They can diagnose the root of your electrical issue and determine its cause. When the root of the problem is identified, treatment may begin. More than 90% of patients see improvement after receiving therapy with catheter ablation. Thus, most of the patients who see electrophysiologists will see an improvement in their quality of life due to their care.
What to expect from an electrophysiologist?
Research conducted in the field of electrophysiology, sometimes known as EPS, examines the electrical activity of the heart in an effort to determine the factors that lead to arrhythmia. A skinny tube will be inserted by your doctor into one of the arteries in your body that leads directly to your heart. This tube is known as an electrode catheter. This treatment is carried out in the groin most of the time; however, it may also be carried out in the arm or the neck. Following that, the physicians will examine the efficiency of your heart’s pumping by applying electrical pulses to it.
Most of the time, electrophysiological tests are performed in a specialised lab inside a hospital or clinic. This room is famous as the electrophysiology laboratory (EP lab) or the catheterisation laboratory (or cath lab). The test should take anywhere between one and four hours to finish.
Before you start EPS, you must:
- Not eat or drink anything between 6 and 8 hours
- Tell your doctor about any vitamins or medications you are taking and do what they say.
- Get someone to drive you to your appointment and back.
- The doctor will then look at the results of your tests and suggest ways to treat you.
Why you might want to see an electrophysiologist:
If you have any of the following symptoms, your primary care doctor or another cardiologist may send you to an electrophysiologist:
- Not have a regular heartbeat.
- Are you getting or thinking about getting cardiac ablation? In this procedure, scar tissue stops the heart from beating too fast or too slow.
- Syncope, where people can suddenly lose consciousness.
- Are you going to have heart surgery?
- Could benefit from having a defibrillator or pacemaker put in (ICD).
Takeaway
If your doctor or cardiologist notices an irregular heartbeat, they will probably tell you to see an electrophysiologist.
An electrophysiologist Sydney is a doctor who has spent years learning about how the heart works electrically. The electrophysiologist may use a variety of tests to figure out what’s wrong with you and how to treat it. nameviser
