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AFib and heart arrhythmia care
Heart doctors at Ascension Saint Thomas in Middle Tennessee, deliver specialized heart care for AFib and other heart arrhythmias.
Heart rhythm and AFib care in Middle Tennessee
Heart doctors at Ascension Saint Thomas in Middle Tennessee, deliver specialized heart care for AFib and other heart arrhythmias.
Know your risk
Don't wait until symptoms appear if you have concerns about your heart. Our free heart health risk assessment can be completed in three minutes.
Why choose us
When you choose Ascension Saint Thomas Heart for your AFib and heart arrhythmia care, your doctor is part of a nationally recognized program known for providing excellence in AFib diagnosis, treatment and recovery by the U.S. News & World 2025 Report and 2025 American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines®. Our heart program offers advanced screenings and diagnostics from a team who cares for more adult hearts than any other health system in Tennessee.
Excellence in AFib care
Ascension Saint Thomas Heart West and Midtown hospitals earned the 2025 American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines® – AFib Gold Quality Achievement Award, and Ascension Saint Thomas Heart Rutherford has received the AFib Silver Quality Achievement Award. These recognitions reflect our cardiology team's commitment to delivering evidence-based care for patients with atrial fibrillation and improving outcomes for you and your loved one to recover faster.
Understand your heart arrhythmia
Electrophysiologists, or doctors who specialize in heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AFib), a type of arrhythmia where your heart beat is irregular, either too fast or too slow. It is a heart rhythm disorder that can be a sign of a more serious condition. Other symptoms of AFib may include chest pain, sweating, fatigue, shortness of breath, and weakness. AFib may come and go and affect how your heart pumps blood through your body, increasing your risk for stroke and congestive heart failure.
AFib is a progressive heart condition that ranges from short and infrequent episodes to a permanent heart condition. The four types of AFib include:
- Long-standing persistent AFib - lasts more than a year without improving
- Paroxysmal AFib - a brief episode that lasts less than 24 hours or up to a week
- Permanent AFib - when AFib does not get better with treatment
- Persistent AFib - lasts more than a week and may need additional treatment to regulate heartbeat
Other heart arrhythmias we treat include:
- Atrial flutter
- Bradycardia
- Heart block
- Sick sinus syndrome
- Supraventricular tachycardia
- Ventricular fibrillation
- Ventricular tachycardia
Electrophysiology
Symptoms of AFib and other heart arrhythmias
Common symptoms heart arrhythmias include:
- Anxiety or feeling uneasy
- Chest discomfort or pain
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Fatigue or feeling unusually tired
- Fainting
- Fluttering feeling in the chest
- A sensation that your heart is racing or pounding
- Irregular or rapid heartbeat
- Shortness of breath
- Skipping or pounding heartbeat
- Weakness or difficulty exercising
How we diagnose AFib
Your doctor may recommend a series of tests as part of your care plan. EKGs, stress tests, echocardiogram, and blood tests are used to help detect an irregular heartbeat. You and your doctor will work together to choose a treatment option that is right for you.
Our heart care teams use ambulatory heart monitoring to help detect and evaluate irregular heart rhythms that may not appear during an office visit. These simple tests record your heart’s activity while you go about your daily routine, giving your cardiologist a better understanding of your heart health.
Ambulatory monitors are small, wearable devices that record your heart’s electrical activity over a period of time to identify irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias). This diagnostic tool helps guide treatment decisions, and monitor how well your current heart care plan is working.
A blood test is a lab analysis of things that may be found in your blood. You may have blood tests to keep track of how well you are managing a condition, such as diabetes or high cholesterol. You may also have them for routine checkups or when you are ill.
A chest X-ray is a quick, noninvasive imaging test that provides a detailed picture of the inside of your chest, helping your care team detect signs of a heart condition.
Echocardiography (Echo) detailed text
Our cardiology team uses advanced diagnostic tools and expertise to accurately identify a wide range of cardiac issues, ensuring you receive the right care as early as possible.
Our cardiology team uses advanced diagnostic tools and expertise to accurately identify a wide range of cardiac issues, ensuring you receive the right care as early as possible.
Our electrophysiology (EP) team performs advanced EP studies to diagnose the source and type of arrhythmias accurately. Using specialized catheters and real-time mapping, we evaluate your heart's electrical activity to guide the best treatment plan for your heart condition.
Your electrophysiologist may recommend a loop recorder implantation to help diagnose irregular heart rhythms that may be difficult to detect with standard monitoring. This small device is placed just under the skin to record your heart's activity over time continuously. If the monitoring shows that you have a heart condition, your doctor will work with you to create a treatment plan that is right for you.
This is also called a treadmill or exercise ECG. This test is done to monitor the heart while you walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike. Your doctor also monitors your breathing and blood pressure. A stress test may be used to detect coronary artery disease, or to determine safe levels of exercise after a heart attack or heart surgery. This test can also be done using special medicines that stress the heart in a similar manner as exercise does. Sometimes a stress test will collect ECG information along with heart ultrasound pictures. This is called an exercise or stress echocardiogram (echo). It's more sensitive and specific than ECG stress testing alone.
How we treat AFib and other heart arrhythmias
Treatment for AFib and other heart arrhythmias may include medication, therapy or surgery.
Atrial fibrillation ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that uses heat or cold energy to create small scars in the heart tissue, blocking abnormal electrical signals that cause an irregular heartbeat. This treatment can help restore a normal rhythm, improve symptoms such as palpitations and fatigue, and reduce the risk of AFib returning.
Ablation can also treat other abnormal heart rhythms, such as supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), pre-ventricular contractions (PVCs) or atrial flutter. The procedure blocks bad electrical signals, helping the heart beat normally and reducing symptoms like rapid heartbeat, dizziness, or shortness of breath, and sometimes reducing the need for long-term medication.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is treatment to help restore the normal rhythm (timing pattern) of the heartbeat. A CRT pacemaker is a specific type of pacemaker with an additional wire that goes to the left side of the heart. This allows it to coordinate the timing between the left and right sides of the heart.
Cardioversion is a procedure that uses controlled electrical energy or medication to restore the heart to a normal rhythm. It may be recommended for people experiencing certain irregular heartbeats, including atrial fibrillation.
Left atrial appendage (LAA) closure procedures help reduce stroke risk in patients with non-valvular AFib who are unable to take long-term blood thinners. Using minimally invasive procedures such as the WATCHMAN™ device, heart specialists close off the LAA to prevent blood clots from entering the bloodstream and causing a stroke.
This surgical procedure is used to treat AFib, helping to restore your heart rhythm. Heart surgeons use a maze pattern technique to create incisions in the heart's upper chambers to block abnormal electrical signals. The maze procedure, also known as the Cox-Maze procedure, uses cold and hot energy to create a scarring effect that corrects the heart signals that cause arrhythmia.
Your cardiologist might recommend a pacemaker if you have irregular heartbeats, a slow heart rate or are experiencing heart block. A pacemaker helps keep your heart regulated by sending electric signals to your heart if it senses trouble. The device is implanted under the skin and helps improve symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness and fainting.
We offer radiofrequency or catheter ablation to treat certain types of arrhythmias, including AFib and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). During this minimally invasive procedure, a catheter is guided through a blood vessel to the heart, where targeted heat energy is used to interrupt abnormal electrical signals and restore a normal heart rhythm.
There are four types of catheter ablation:
- Radiofrequency ablation: Uses heat to destroy abnormal cells.
- Cryoablation: Uses cold to destroy abnormal cells affecting the heartbeat.
- Pulsed field ablation: Uses electricity to create small holes in heart cells that destroy abnormal cells while preserving surrounding tissues and minimizing the impact on areas outside the heart, such as the esophagus and lungs.
- Robotic hybrid convergent ablation: Performed in more advanced stages through a combined approach by a cardiac surgeon and an electrophysiologist.
Clinical trials
Our doctors are committed to being leaders in cardiovascular research, working to help improve how we diagnose and treat heart and vascular diseases. You can talk to your electrophysiologist if you are interested in participating in clinical trials.
Librexia-AFIB
A study of milvexian versus apixaban in participants with atrial fibrillation
BACKBEAT Trial
Bradycardia pacemaker with AV interval modulation for blood pressure treatment
Patient education
Get detailed information on what to expect before and after your procedure. Learn how to prepare and what to expect with recovery from your care team.
How to get care
Talk to your primary care doctor or a specialist about a referral to see an electrophysiologist. Have questions or need a second opinion? You can also contact us directly at 615-329-5144.
Meet our cardiac electrophysiology team
At Ascension Saint Thomas Heart, your care team supports you before, during and after an AFib procedure to help you return to the regular daily activities you love. Your electrophysiologists work with you to monitor your heart health over time, including connecting you with cardiac rehabilitation and helping manage your medications to make sure they are working well for you.
Get a second opinion
Decisions about your heart care are important. Getting a second opinion not only provides more information about your condition, but it can help you feel more confident in the doctor and the care plan you choose. If you’re looking for a second opinion, specialists at Ascension Saint Thomas Heart are here to listen and recommend options that are right for you. Consider getting a second opinion if:
- Your diagnosis or prognosis is unclear
- You’ve been told you have a rare or life-threatening condition
- You would like to explore other treatment options
- Your treatment options are costly or risky
- You want to hear an opinion from another specialist
- Your insurance requires a second opinion
Refer your patient to Ascension Saint Thomas Heart
Your patients can expect compassionate, personalized care from the moment our specialists connect with them. Our electrophysiologists start by listening to fully understand your patient’s needs and to develop an individualized care plan.
To make a doctor referral, please call 615-284-2025.
If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, go directly to the ER or call 911.
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