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Electrophysiology is a specialization of medicine that focuses on the electrical behavior of the heart. The heart is a pump that circulates blood through the body. But that pump (heart) is controlled by electrical impulses that can be measured from the surface of the body. These signals are called electrocardiograms or ECGs.
Physicians in the Electrophysiology (EP) Lab diagnose and treat patients for heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias) using pacemakers, internal cardiac defibrillators, invasive study techniques and ablation therapy. Sometimes an ICD's, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) may be placed near the collarbone.
An electrophysiology (EP) study 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. The EP study can be performed solely for diagnostic purposes. It also is performed to pinpoint the exact location of electrical signals (cardiac mapping) in conjunction with a therapeutic procedure called catheter ablation.
The test is simple, not painful, and performed in a special laboratory under controlled clinical circumstances by cardiologists, nurses and cardio vascular technicians who sub-specialize in electrophysiology.
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