Care for Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) and Arrhythmias

A heart rhythm disorder, AFib is the most common type of arrhythmia. It occurs when your heart’s electrical charges malfunction, causing its upper chambers to beat out of sync with its lower chambers.

A few different types of AFib exist, including:

• Paroxysmal AFib: short episodes of AFib where the irregular heartbeat resolves on its own within seven days of starting
• Persistent AFib: AFib that lasts longer than seven days, does not resolve on its own and requires treatment
• Longstanding AFib: AFib that lasts longer than one year and needs treatment
• Permanent AFib: AFib that continues indefinitely without treatment
• Nonvalvular AFib: AFib that’s unrelated to heart valve problems

Regardless of the type, AFib needs treatment. An abnormal heartbeat can disrupt your blood flow and increase your risk of stroke, so it’s important to understand what’s causing it.

In some cases of atrial fibrillation, medical therapy is the best option. A heart specialist will help you choose the right treatment for you.

Medications used to treat heart rhythm disorders include:

• Antiarrhythmic medications to maintain normal heart rhythm or convert the heart rhythm to normal
• Anticoagulants to thin blood and prevent blood clots
• Beta-blockers to slow the heart rate
• Calcium channel blockers to slow the heart rate
• Digoxin to slow the heart rate

As part of your tailored treatment plan, our specialists will help you understand your medication and any potential side effects.

Cardiac Ablation

When AFib isn’t treatable with medication, ablation is a nonsurgical, wire-based procedure that uses energy to eliminate the cardiac tissue that’s triggering AFib. Cardiac ablation uses radiofrequency or a laser to destroy the abnormal cells so your heart will beat normally. There are several types of ablation techniques, including a new technology called stereotaxis robotic ablation therapy, which is less invasive and uses softer, gentler catheters to resolve your atrial fibrillation.

FARAPULSE™ Pulsed Field Ablation System

Traditional ablation procedures involve generating extreme temperatures to destroy targeted areas in the heart associated with abnormal heart rhythms. However, the FARAPULSE™ Pulsed Field Ablation System utilizes tissue-selective, nonthermal electric fields to target and ablate heart tissue while minimizing damage to surrounding structures. This approach reduces the risk of complications and enhances patient safety. We are one of the first hospital systems in Illinois to use this procedure.

Medtronic Micra™ Pacemaker Placement

The Medtronic Micra™ Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) is a tiny, leadless pacemaker that’s less invasive than traditional implants, freeing you of chest scars and potential medical complications. Unlike most pacemakers, Micra is leadless and implanted directly into the heart — all in one minimally invasive procedure with no chest incision needed. Because Micra is self-contained within the heart, it eliminates possible medical complications arising from a chest incision and from the wires with conventional pacemakers.

Open-Heart Surgery: Maze Procedure

Designed to disrupt the erratic impulse triggers and circuits that cause AFib, Maze procedures create carefully placed scar tissue lesions within the atria to stop faulty electrical impulses from traveling. This creates only one path the electrical impulse can take, which prevents the atrium from fibrillating. The variations of the Maze procedure range from most to least invasive: the Cox-Maze procedure, Modified-Maze procedure and Mini-Maze procedure.

WATCHMAN™

WATCHMAN provides an alternative to the blood thinner Warfarin for people who need one. This is the only FDA-approved implant proven to reduce stroke risk in people with AFib not caused by a heart valve problem (also referred to as non-valvular AFib). WATCHMAN effectively reduces the risk of stroke without the risk of bleeding that can come with the long-term use of Warfarin.

Pacemakers and defibrillators are small devices that monitor and treat irregular heart rhythms. We’ll work to find the right device for you during an electrophysiology test, or EP study, which involves sending electrical signals through a catheter placed in your heart to identify any rhythm abnormalities and diagnose your condition. Devices are implanted in our state-of-the-art electrophysiology lab, which features the latest advancements and equipment.

Pacemakers are small electronic devices that treat excessively slow heart rhythms (bradycardia). Pacemakers send signals to the heart muscle that cause the muscle to contract at the correct pace, ensuring blood is pumped properly through the body. Pacemakers adjust heart rates according to changes in the body's activity level, meaning the pacemaker regulates the heart rate when you’re resting or exercising.

Defibrillators, also called implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), continuously monitor the heartbeat and are ideal for people who have life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms or those with a high risk for cardiac arrest. When a dangerously fast heart rhythm occurs, the device delivers either rapid pacing or a lifesaving, high-energy electrical shock to restore proper heart rhythm.

Biventricular Pacemaker (Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy)

Normally, the left and right ventricles — the lower chambers of the heart — contract at the same time. Heart failure can disturb the heart's normal electrical pathway, causing uncoordinated, "asynchronous" pumping of the ventricles, further decreasing the heart's ability to pump blood properly.

The biventricular pacemaker has three leads: one for the right atrium, one for the right ventricle and one placed in a vein on the surface of the left ventricle. The biventricular pacemaker stimulates the ventricles to contract together. This treatment is called cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). When coupled with a defibrillator, this therapy is called cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator or CRT-D.

Insertable Heart Monitor Devices

An insertable heart monitoring device detects heart rhythm-related episodes of unexplained fainting (syncope) or palpitations. It is especially useful for diagnosing AFib.

An insertable heart monitoring device continuously monitors heart rhythm and records your heart's activity as an electrocardiogram (ECG). When fainting occurs, the device is triggered to save a record of the heart's activity before, during and after the spell. Our electrophysiologists can then read the ECG record to determine if an arrhythmia is present. An insertable cardiac monitoring device can be in place for up to three years, increasing the chances of documenting an infrequent fainting spell.

Other types of heart monitoring devices, such as Holter monitors and event recorders, are worn outside the body and are designed for more short-term use.

Adjusting to new medicine and everyday life after a heart procedure can feel overwhelming. But together, our team is here to help restore you physically, emotionally and spiritually. We’ll keep you informed of best care practices, provide you with lifestyle tips, and guide you through our wellness program. We’re here for you the whole way.