Home > Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health > Electrophysiology Study of the Heart

Definition

An electrophysiology study (EPS) of the heart is a nonsurgical analysis of the electrical conduction system (normal or abnormal) of the heart. The test employs cardiac catheters and sophisticated computers to generate electrocardiogram (EKG) tracings and electrical measurements with exquisite precision from within the heart chambers.

Purpose

An EPS can be performed solely for diagnostic purposes or to pinpoint the exact location of electrical signals (cardiac mapping) in conjunction with a therapeutic procedure called catheter ablation. A cardiologist may recommend an EPS when the standard EKG, Holter monitor, event recorder, stress test, echocardiogram, or angiogram cannot provide enough information to evaluate an abnormal heart rhythm, called an arrhythmia.

An EPS offers more detailed information about the heart's electrical activity than many other noninvasive tests because electrodes are placed directly on heart tissue. This placement allows the electrophysiologist to determine the specific location of an arrhythmia and, oftentimes, correct it during the same procedure. This corrective treatment is considered a permanent cure; in many cases, the patient may not need to take heart medications.

EPS may be helpful in assessing:

• certain tachycardias or bradycardias of unknown cause
• patients who have been resuscitated after experiencing sudden cardiac death
• various symptoms of unknown cause, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or syncope (dizziness/fainting)
• response to anti-arrhythmic therapy

Precautions

Pregnant patients should not undergo EPS because of the exposure to radiation during the study, which may harm the growing baby. Patients who have coronary artery disease may need to be treated prior to EPS. EPS is contraindicated in patients with an acute myocardial infarction, as the infarct may be extended with rapid pacing. The test is also contraindicated for patients who are uncooperative.

Description

The rhythmic pumping action of the heart, which is essentially a muscle, is the result of electrical impulses traveling throughout the walls of the four heart chambers. These impulses originate in the sinoatrial (SA) node (specialized cells situated in the right atrium, or top right chamber of the heart). Normally, the SA node, acting like a spark plug, spontaneously generates the impulses, which travel through specific pathways throughout the atria to the atrioventricular (AV) node. The AV node is a relay station sending the impulses to more specialized muscle fibers throughout the ventricles (the bottom chambers of the heart). If these pathways become damaged or blocked or if extra (abnormal) pathways exist, the heart's rhythm may be altered (too slow, too fast, or irregular), which can seriously affect the heart's pumping ability.

The patient is transported to the x-ray table in the EPS lab and connected to various monitors. Sterile technique is maintained. A minimum of two catheters is inserted into the right femoral (thigh) vein in the groin area. Depending on the type of arrhythmia, the number of catheters used and their route to the heart may vary. For certain tachycardias, two more catheters may be inserted in the left groin and one in the internal jugular (neck) vein or in the subclavian (below the clavicle) vein. The catheters are about 2 mm in diameter, about the size of a spaghetti noodle. The catheters used in catheter ablation are slightly larger.

With the help of fluoroscopy (x rays on a television screen), all the catheters are guided to several specific locations in the heart. Typically, four to 10 electrodes are located on the end of the catheters, which have the ability to send electrical signals to stimulate the heart (called pacing) and to receive electrical signals from the heart; but not at the same time (just as a walkie-talkie cannot send and receive messages at the same time).

First, the electrodes are positioned to receive signals from inside the heart chambers, which allows the doctor to measure how fast the electrical impulses travel in the patient's heart at that time. These measurements are called the patient's baseline measurements. Next, the electrodes are positioned to pace. That is, the EPS team tries to induce (sometimes in combination with various heart drugs) the arrhythmia that the patient has previously experienced so the team can observe it in a controlled environment, compare it to the patient's clinical or spontaneous arrhythmia, and decide how to treat it.

Once the arrhythmia is induced and the team determines it can be treated with catheter ablation, cardiac mapping is performed to locate the precise origin and route of the abnormal pathway. When this is accomplished, the ablating electrode catheter is positioned directly against the abnormal pathway, and high radio-frequency energy is delivered through the electrode to destroy (burn) the tissue in this area.

Pediatric patients present challenges in EPS. In 2001, an analysis of 45 pediatric patients who underwent electrophysiologic study was conducted. The researchers concluded that success rates and the prevention of complications in children may be increased by using ultrasound guidance for access of the internal jugular vein for coronary sinus cannulation (insertion of a tube for the transport of fluid) during EPS. Access was successfully obtained in all 45 of the patients without major complications using this technique.

Preparation

The following preparations are made for an EPS:

• The patient may be advised to stop taking certain medications, especially cardiac medications, that may interfere with the test results.
• The patient is kept fasting for six to eight hours prior to the procedure. Fluids may be permitted until three hours before the test.
• Blood tests usually are ordered one week prior to the test.
• The patient undergoes conscious sedation (awake but relaxed) during the test.
• A local anesthetic is injected at the site of catheter insertion.
• Peripheral pulses are marked with a pen prior to catheterization. This permits rapid assessment of pulses after the procedure.

Aftercare

The patient needs to rest flat in bed for several hours after the procedure to allow healing at the catheter insertion

sites. The patient often returns home either the same day of the test or the next day. Someone should drive the patient home.

---

Patient education

To minimize bleeding and pain, instruct the patient to keep the extremity in which the catheter was placed immobilized and straight for several hours after the test.

Complications

EPS and catheter ablation are considered low-risk procedures. There is a risk of bleeding and/or infection at the site of catheter insertion. Blood clot formation may occur and is minimized with anti-coagulant medications administered during the procedure. Vascular injuries causing hemorrhage or thrombophlebitis are possible. Cardiac perforations are possible. If the right internal jugular vein is accessed, the potential for puncturing the lung with the catheter exists and could lead to a collapsed lung.

Because ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation (lethal arrhythmias) may be induced in the patient, the EPS lab personnel must be prepared to defibrillate the patient as necessary.

Patients should notify their health care provider if they develop any of these symptoms:

• numbness or tingling in the extremities
• heavy bleeding
• change in color and/or temperature of extremities
• loss of function in extremities

Results

Normal findings indicate that the heart initiates and conducts electrical impulses within normal limits.

Abnormal findings include confirmation of arrhythmias, such as:

• supraventricular tachycardias
• ventricular arrhythmias
• accessory pathways
• bradycardias

Health care team roles

The relatively simple EPS is performed in a special laboratory under controlled clinical circumstances by cardiologists, nurses, and technicians with special training in electrophysiology.

---

KEY TERMS

---

Ablation—Removal or destruction of tissue, such as by burning or cutting.

Angiogram—X ray of a blood vessel after special x-ray dye has been injected into it.

Bradycardia—Relatively slow heart action, usually considered as a rate under 60 beats per minute.

Cardiac catheter—Long, thin, flexible tube, which is threaded into the heart through a blood vessel.

Cardiologist—Doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating heart diseases.

Echocardiogram—Ultrasound image of the heart.

Electrocardiogram—Tracing of the electrical activity of the heart.

Electrode—A medium, such as platinum wires, for conducting an electrical current.

Electrophysiology—Study of how electrical signals in the body relate to physiologic function.

Event recorder—A small machine, worn by a patient usually for several days or weeks, that is activated by the patient to record his or her EKG when a symptom is detected.

Fibrillation—Rapid, random contraction (quivering).

Holter monitor—A small machine, worn by a patient usually for 24 hours, that continuously records the patient's EKG during usual daily activity.

Stress test—Recording a patient's EKG during exercise.

Supraventricular tachycardia—A fast heart beat that originates above the ventricles.

Tachycardia—Fast heartbeat.

Thrombophlebitis—Venous inflammation with the formation of thrombus (a clot in the cardiovascular system).

---

Maggie Boleyn, R.N., B.S.N.