For invasive procedures, you would be under the best of care with our physicians who have served as Directors of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Northside Hospitals Forsyth and Cherokee where they pioneered coronary angioplasty and stenting. Our specialists perform the following procedures at Northside Hospital Forsyth, Northside Hospital Cherokee, Emory Johns Creek Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta.
If you suffer from arrhythmia, your doctor may recommend treating it by resetting your heart rate. This procedure is called cardioversion or defibrillation. Used to treat both atrial fibrillation (AFib) and atrial flutter (AFlutter), cardioversion uses an electric shock sent through your heart to change its irregular heart rhythm back into a normal one.
If you suffer from AFib or AFlutter, your doctor may recommend trying cardioversion before some other more invasive procedure. Some people who suffer from AFib and AFlutter have no symptoms at all. Others have palpitations, fluttering, shortness of breath, chest pain, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing and trouble with fainting. Those who have these problems are prime candidates for cardioversion.
Cardioversion involves briefly interrupting your heart’s beating to restore it to a regular rhythm. Two types of cardioversion are available for your doctor to use.
Because the condition that requires cardioversion is AFib, the top chamber of your heart are generally “quivering.” This can allow blood clots to form. In order to keep any of these clots from breaking free and clogging an artery to your brain causing a stroke, your doctor may prescribe a blood thinner or anticoagulant to be taken prior to and after the cardioversion.
On the day of the cardioversion, you will need to have someone drive you to and home from your appointment. You will need to fast for at least 8 hours prior to the procedure. You should still take your regular medications unless your doctor tells you otherwise.