Cardiac Electrophysiology

Irregular heart rhythms, also known as arrhythmias, happen when abnormal electrical activity in your heart makes it beat too fast, too slow, or unevenly. There are many types of arrhythmias and they have many causes.

Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is a type of arrhythmia where your heart beats irregularly. It is one of the most common heart rhythm conditions. Essentia offers special programs at two of its heart centers to help patients manage their atrial fibrillation.

• Essentia Health St. Mary's-Heart & Vascular Center in Duluth, Minnesota
• Essentia Health Heart & Vascular Center in Fargo, North Dakota.

If you have AFib that isn’t caused by a heart valve problem, also called non-valvular AFib, your doctor may recommend getting a Watchman device instead of taking the blood thinning medication Warfarin. A Watchman can reduce your risk of having a stroke.

Trust our experts to evaluate your unique situation and work with you to develop an individualized treatment plan that can reduce any symptoms and improve your quality of life. They may recommend:

• Diagnostic tests and cardiac imaging, like a mapping study
• Medications
• Traditional or minimally invasive surgical procedures, including radiofrequency cardiac ablation or left atrial appendage closure
• Device therapies, such as placement of a loop recorder, pacemaker, implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD), or subcutaneous implantable cardiac defibrillator (SICD)
• Watchman