The Cardiac Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Unit at HOSPITEN Rambla forms part of the Cardiology Department and it aims to give highly specialized services in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of patients with irregular heartbeat and includes advanced radiofrequency ablation techniques.

Arrhythmia is any alteration of the normal heartbeat. When the beat is too fast, it is called tachycardia and when the beat is slow, we call it bradycardia. These conditions are caused by congenital or acquired 'electrical' problems.

Arrhythmia is a common reason for a visit to the doctor. The symptoms are palpitations, chest pain, dizziness, loss of consciousness (syncope) or even death.

Occasionally, arrhythmia goes unnoticed by the patient and only shows up in the results of diagnostic tests

Usually, there is no cause for alarm. Nevertheless, palpitations that may last from a few minutes to hours and that start at any time without any apparent reason may require a visit to the Emergency Room in case it is something more serious and requires treatment.

Cardiac arrhythmia is due to one of the following three causes:

• Insufficient generation of electric signals
• Electric signals produced in the wrong place
• A disorder in the electric signal conducts

• Diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmia (drugs)
• Syncope studies
• Electrophysiological studies, diagnosis and therapy (tachyarrhythmia ablation)
• Pacemaker and automatic defibrillator implantation
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy
• Subcutaneous Holter implantation
• Synchronized electrical cardioversion
• Tilt table testing to assess rhythm disorders and syncope conditions
• 24-hour Holter rhythm monitoring

Until now, the majority of patients with arrhythmia have been treated with drugs to control the discomfort caused. However, when the problem becomes more serious, sufferers are forced to adapt their lifestyles and lose quality of life. Inability to go on working, having to slow down one's rhythm of life, anxiety and loss of self-confidence are some of the consequences these patients have to face.

The Cardiac Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Unit at Hospiten Rambla provides vanguard treatments that aim to end arrhythmia permanently. Thus, sufferers have an alternative to antiarrhythmic drugs or a complementary treatment to implantable defibrillators in more serious cases.
It involves therapeutic electrophysiological studies through catheter endocardiac ablation, which may mean a definitive cure for tachycardia, avoiding the complications of taking drugs and the poor quality of life resulting from the condition.

An Electrophysiological Study is a test which allows the doctor to study irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). The test is useful in cases of patients suffering from palpitations, tachycardia, dizziness, loss of consciousness, etc. Episodes of tachycardia can be brought on during the test to determine what type they are, what causes them and what treatment would be best. Where the patient suffers from loss of consciousness, the electrophysiological study can determine whether the cause is arrhythmia.

HOSPITEN Rambla
Rambla de Santa Cruz, 115
38001 Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Tel: +34 922 291 600
Outpatients' Department Tel: +34 922 534 240
e-mail: rambla@hospiten.com

Cardiology Department Tel: 922 472 312