Pediatric Electrophysiology

If your child shows signs of having an abnormal heart rhythm (an arrhythmia), staff from our Electrophysiology Service will evaluate her heart's electrical system using an electrophysiology study (EPS). Arrhythmias result when the heart's electrical system functions abnormally or when there is an extra electrical connection or abnormal electrical focus in the heart.

We may evaluate your child with EPS if:

• She has experienced heart palpitations
• She has experienced unexplained dizziness or fainting (syncope)
• If there is a family history of sudden cardiac death

We use an EPS to evaluate children who experience these symptoms and who have normal heart structures, as well as children with previously diagnosed congenital heart disease.

Your child's electrophysiology study will be performed with cardiac catheterization, using state-of-the-art equipment with computerized electrical stimulation and analysis systems. In an EPS, we insert three to five special catheters into your child's veins and guide these catheters to his heart. The tip of each catheter has platinum electrodes that record electrical signals from inside your child's heart, as well as pace the heart from different locations.