Atrial Fibrillation (Afib) & Arrhythmia

Generally, there are 3 types of medications to help manage Afib:

Anticoagulants are used to reduce blood clotting and prevent stroke in Afib patients. They can range from aspirin, which causes platelets to become less adhesive, to prescription medications like warfarin, which thins the blood to prevent coagulation.

Rate controllers such as beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and cardiac glycosides, can be used to bring the heart rate down to reduce Afib symptoms.

Antiarrhythmics are rhythm control medications. From sodium channel blockers to potassium channel blockers, they can impede the electrical signals that cause Afib, thereby keeping it suppressed to maintain normal rhythm.

When medications do not work to control Afib, or when they are not well tolerated, a procedure may be needed to treat your abnormal rhythm.

Cardioversion An outpatient procedure performed under short-acting sedation that electrically “resets” the heart. A low dose of energy reactivates normal rhythm, although its effect may not be permanent.

Catheter Ablation A minimally invasive procedure that typically applies radiofrequency energy to eliminate the small areas of heart tissue that are causing your Afib. Catheter ablation is designed to restore the heart’s normal rhythm on a long-term basis. An electrophysiologist (EP) performs the procedure, guiding catheters to the heart usually through a vein in the groin or neck. The procedure can take up to several hours and is performed under sedation with an anesthesiologist. Patients typically go home the following day and return to normal life and activities in one to two weeks. Medications for controlling the arrhythmia may be reduced or even eliminated following successful catheter ablation.

Pulsed Field Ablation Baptist Health is among the pioneers in the U.S. to integrate Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA), a state-of-the-art technology for treating Afib. PFA employs electrical fields to selectively target irregular heart cells, reducing procedure time by up to 60 minutes compared to traditional methods, resulting in shorter anesthesia duration, fewer complications, and quicker recovery for patients.

More Ablation Procedures Baptist offers pressure-sensing ThermoCool SmartTouch© Catheter to burn the sources of atrial fibrillation in the heart, and the Cryoballoon Catheter that uses miniature balloons at subzero temperatures to freeze them. Both have an 80% overall success rate.

Device therapy includes a range of devices that can be implanted in the body to regulate a normal heartbeat and reduce frequency/severity of arrhythmias. These include:

Pacemakers, small electrical devices, implanted under the skin close to the collarbone, that transmit an electrical signal to control proper contracting of the heart’s rhythm.

Baptist Health offers the latest MRI-compatible pacemakers and is one of only 25 research centers in the nation, and one of only two in Florida, to offer the new leadless pacemaker. This advancement allows the world’s smallest pacemaker — the size of a vitamin — to be placed directly into the heart without any attached wires and offers numerous benefits.

ICDs (implantable cardioverter-defibrillators) are implanted devices used to perform cardioversions and restore and correct pacing of the heart. Unlike pacemakers, they are also able to treat unexpected, life-threatening arrhythmias such as Ventricular Tachycardia and Ventricular Fibrillation. Baptist Health offers the most advanced defibrillator technologies. The new subcutaneous defibrillator has wires placed under the skin instead of directly into the heart to decrease chances of infection. The new ICD Mini is the world’s smallest heart defibrillator. New biventricular defibrillator implants now utilize the latest biventricular leads for patients whose hearts are both weak and out of sync to improve symptoms and quality of life.

Left atrial appendage repair WATCHMAN™