Cardiac Ablation Specialist

What is cardiac ablation?

Cardiac ablation is a treatment that uses various methods to deliver an electrical charge to your heart. These electrical impulses help correct any abnormalities of your heartbeat. The team at Cary Cardiology, P.A., uses cardiac ablation to treat arrhythmia – an irregular heartbeat.

Arrhythmia is a symptom of some kind of fault in the electrical signals controlling your heartbeat. These problems can cause a fast heartbeat (tachycardia), slow heartbeat (bradycardia), an irregular rhythm, or a combination of these effects.

Cardiac ablation techniques are suitable for treating several forms of arrhythmia, including atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).

When is cardiac ablation a good choice for me?

After confirming you have an arrhythmia and what's causing it, your provider at Cary Cardiology, P.A., is likely to start your treatment using medications like antiarrhythmics and blood thinners. Cardioversion to reset your heartbeat can also be effective.

If none of these methods are helping control your arrhythmia, cardiac ablation might be the best option for you. The ablation procedure involves making tiny scars in your heart tissue that stop the faulty electrical signals.

Cardiac ablation can take place using non-surgical catheterization or surgery.

What is cardiac catheterization ablation?

Catheter ablation (also known as pulmonary vein or radiofrequency ablation) is a minimally invasive procedure using a slender, flexible tube (catheter) to access your heart.

The Cary Cardiology, P.A., team inserts the catheter into a large artery in your leg or neck, using advanced imaging technology to direct the catheter into the affected area of your heart. 

Once the catheter is in the correct position, your provider transmits radio wave energy along the tube to destroy the faulty cells in your heart.

Cryoablation is a similar procedure, but it uses freezing technology to eliminate faulty cells rather than radiofrequency energy.

What is surgical cardiac ablation?

There are several ways that the team at Cary Cardiology, P.A., can perform surgical ablation:

Maze ablation

Maze ablation might be an option if you're also undergoing open-heart surgery. With maze ablation, your provider creates a series of tiny incisions in your heart that form scar tissue when they heal.

Mini-maze ablation

Mini-maze ablation is a laparoscopic procedure where your provider inserts a laparoscope (a flexible instrument with a camera on one end) into your heart through an incision between your ribs. When the laparoscope is in place, your provider uses radiofrequency energy or cryoablation to damage the cells responsible for your arrhythmia.

Convergent procedure

The convergent procedure is a combination of catheter ablation and the mini-maze technique. A catheter in your pulmonary vein delivers radiofrequency energy into your heart's faulty cells, while a laparoscope directs more radiofrequency energy to your heart's outer walls.

If you have arrhythmia and conservative treatments don’t reduce your symptoms, cardiac ablation might be the answer. Find out how cardiac ablation can help you by calling Cary Cardiology, P.A., or booking an appointment online today.