AFib and heart arrhythmia care

Heart doctors at Ascension Sacred Heart in Northwest Florida deliver specialized heart care for AFib and other heart arrhythmias.

Heart rhythm and AFib care in Northwest Florida

Heart doctors at Ascension Sacred Heart in Northwest Florida deliver specialized heart care for AFib and other heart arrhythmias.

Why choose us

When you choose Ascension Sacred Heart for your heart care, your doctor is part of a nationally recognized program with over 150 cardiologists and cardiac surgeons known for providing excellence in heart disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Our heart program offers advanced screenings and diagnostics from a team who cares for more hearts than any other health system in Northwest Florida.

About AFib

Cardiologists specialize in diagnosing and treating arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is 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.

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
  • 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 to help make a diagnosis and better understand your heart condition.

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.

This test is similar to a transthoracic echocardiogram. But it's done with medicine to help you relax (sedation). It's considered invasive because a probe is put into your body. In this test, you will swallow a small probe about the size of your thumb. The probe passes down the esophagus, which lies directly behind the heart. It allows a much closer look at the heart's structure and function than a standard echocardiogram done on the skin of the chest. It can better look at heart valve structure and function. Your doctor can better see any blood clots that may be in the heart.

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.

Get a second opinion from a heart specialist

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. 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

How to get care

stethoscope

To make an appointment, a referral should be made by your primary care doctor or another specialist. Once the referral is received and reviewed, you will be contacted to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist.

If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, go directly to the ER or call 911.

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