Shock treatment for irregular heartbeat at The Cardiovascular Health Clinic
Cardioversion is a procedure used to treat abnormal heart rhythms (also called cardiac arrhythmias). The most commonly treated arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation. During cardioversion, an electrical "shock" is delivered to the heart to restore its rhythm to a normal pattern. The electrical energy can be delivered externally with electrodes placed on the chest or directly to the heart using paddles on the heart during an open chest surgery. Alternately, the energy can be delivered through the electrodes of a permanently implanted device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. If, however, you have ventricular dysynchrony, which means that the two lower chambers of your heart are not beating together and are unable to pump blood to the body effectively, then a cardiac resynchronisation device (CRT) may need to be implanted.