Electrophysiology studies, or EPS, use cardiac catheterization
techniques to study patients who have irregular heartbeats
(called arrhythmias). EPS shows how the heart reacts to
controlled electrical signals. These signals can help doctors
find out where in the heart the arrhythmia starts and what
medicines will work to stop it. EPS can also help doctors know
what other catheter techniques could be used to stop the
arrhythmia (see Arrhythmia for more about the catheter
techniques used to treat arrhythmia). How does it work? EPS uses
electrical signals to help doctors find out what kind of
arrhythmia you have and what can be done to prevent or control
it. Doctors will perform a cardiac catheterization procedure in
which a long, thin tube (called a catheter) will be put into an
artery in your leg and threaded into your heart. This catheter
can be used to send the electrical signals into your heart.
Stimulating the heart will cause an arrhythmia, and doctors can
record where in the heart it started. In some case