Providing cardiology services and cardiac care since 1983.

What is it?

An EPS is used to diagnose and treat cardiac rhythm disturbances, like cardiac arrhythmia. By using special pacing wires, we’re able to identify your rhythm disturbance and choose the best method of treatment for you.

 

What to expect

You must fast for at least four hours before an EPS is conducted. For the test, you’ll lie on a theatre table covered with sterile drapes and your doctor will insert some local anaesthetic at the sites where catheters are to be inserted. You might feel some initial discomfort with this, but this should disappear in less than a minute. Between one and four pacing electrodes are used and placed in different positions in the heart, and your doctor will give small electrical impulses through these electrodes, causing your heart to beat at different rates.

After the test is completed, you’ll be returned to a bed where you will be asked to rest for about four hours. Your blood pressure and pulse will be monitored during this time, and you’ll be able to eat and drink once the test is over.