The heart is a muscle that is constantly beating to pump blood through tubes (blood vessels) to all parts of the body. The heart’s “plumbing system” and “electrical system” must both work correctly for the heart to work as it should.

The heart’s normal electrical system synchronizes the beating of the heart’s chambers. When the electrical system does not work well, disturbances in normal heart rhythm (arrhythmias) cause abnormal heartbeats, such as too rapid, too slow or not very regular.

These arrhythmias can cause symptoms such as fluttering and palpitations. The abnormal heartbeat sometimes can reduce heart function.

Physicians usually treat these disturbances in heart rhythm with medication, minimally invasive procedures or implanted cardiac electrical devices. At Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, electrophysiologists work closely with specially trained nurses and technicians in the electrophysiology laboratory to fully evaluate, treat and often cure many arrhythmias in children.

State-of-the-Art Technology to Treat Arrhythmias

Electrophysiology services include:

• Defibrillator insertion
• Intracardiac electrophysiology studies
• Transesophageal electrophysiology studies
• 3D mapping
• Catheter ablation with radiofrequency or cryoablation technologies
• Insertion of pacemakers — small, battery-powered medical devices designed to electrically stimulate the heart muscle in an effort to restore a more normal heart rhythm
• Loop recorder insertion

Why Choose Norton Children’s Heart Institute

No other congenital heart surgery program in Kentucky, Ohio or Southern Indiana is rated higher by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons than the Norton Children’s Heart Institute Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Program.

• Norton Children’s Hospital has been a pioneer in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, performing Kentucky’s first pediatric heart transplant in 1986 and becoming the second site in the United States to perform an infant heart transplant.
• Our board-certified and fellowship-trained pediatric cardiovascular surgeons are leaders in the field as clinicians and researchers.
• More than 5,000 children a year visit Norton Children’s Heart Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, for advanced heart care.
• Norton Children’s Heart Institute successfully performs more than 17,500 procedures a year.
• The Society of Thoracic Surgeons rated Norton Children’s Heart Institute among the best in the region after studying years of our patients’ outcomes and our ability to treat a range of pediatric heart conditions, including the most severe.
• Norton Children’s Heart Institute has satellite outpatient offices in Ashland, Bowling Green, Campbellsville, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, London, Madisonville, Murray, Owensboro, Paducah and Shepherdsville in Kentucky; as well as Corydon, Jasper, Madison and Scottsburg in Indiana; 28 tele-echocardiography locations in Kentucky and Southern Indiana; and six fetal echocardiography locations across Kentucky.
• The American Board of Thoracic Surgery has awarded the cardiothoracic surgeons at Norton Children’s Hospital with subspecialty certification in congenital heart surgery.
• The Jennifer Lawrence Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) is the largest dedicated CICU in Kentucky, equipped with 17 private rooms and the newest technology available for heart care .
• Our multidisciplinary approach to pediatric heart surgery brings together our specialists in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, anesthesiology, cardiac critical care and other areas to create a complete care plan tailored for your child.