Riverside operates the Peninsula’s only dedicated electrophysiology lab. This cardiology specialty is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm irregularities. Specialists in this area perform EP (electrophysiology) studies to diagnose and guide treatment of abnormal heartbeats. Using state of the art equipment and techniques including 3D mapping procedures these specialists utilize tiny catheters to measure the EKG from inside the heart to draw internal maps of the hearts electrical system. Abnormal heart rates and rhythms can be corrected with pacemakers or through cardiac ablation procedures that target the area of the heart that causes the abnormality.

Automated internal cardiac defibrillators (AICD) are used to treat patients who are prone to sudden and rapid heart rates. Cardiac resynchronization therapy or bi-ventricular pacemakers and defibrillators are one of the latest treatments for congestive heart failure. These implantable devices are designed to treat the two components of heart failure. By incorporating pacemaker technology to resynchronize both sides of the heart the pacemaker improves the cardiac output or pumping action of the heart and the addition of an automatic defibrillator adds the security of emergency treatment of sudden cardiac arrest.

Ablation therapy procedures performed in the Riverside electrophysiology lab are used to treat abnormal heartbeats using radio-frequency energy delivered through small catheters. Riverside offers several other non-invasive testing procedures to assist in the diagnosis of cardiac conditions including tilt-table procedures to evaluate the cardiac basis on fainting spells.

Tilt-table procedures performed in the EP lab are non-invasive tests designed to evaluate the cause of fainting spells and to determine if there is a cardiac issue. Tilt-table tests may help rule out cardiac disease and may be used to guide further testing and treatment.

Riverside offers several other non-invasive testing procedures to assist in the diagnosis of cardiac rhythm conditions.