Heart Rhythm Services

When you come to Roper St. Francis Healthcare for heart rhythm treatment, you can expect:

• Compassionate, coordinated care from the moment you walk through the door. Our specially trained nurse navigators will stay with you every step of the way and make sure your treatment experience is as smooth as possible.
• All testing and treatment options available under one roof. You won’t have to worry about driving to multiple locations.
• Fast, effective care. We’ll coordinate your appointments, tests and treatment as close together as possible, so you can feel better and get back to doing what you love.
• Frequent communication with your primary care doctor or cardiologist. Our process helps make sure your doctor stays informed about your treatment, so he or she can provide seamless follow-up care.

We have experience treating all types of heart rhythm conditions, from common problems to more complex disorders. Conditions we treat include:

• Atrial fibrillation (AFib)
• Atrial flutter
• Ventricular tachycardia
• Supraventricular tachycardia
• AV nodal reentrant tachycardia
• Atrial tachycardia
• Accessory pathway (Wolf-Parkinson-White)
• Bradycardia

Before we recommend a treatment, we may ask you to undergo some additional tests. These tests will help us come up with a treatment plan tailored to your needs. Tests may include:

• Cardiac catheterization
• CT scan of the heart
• Echocardiogram
• Electrocardiogram (EKG)
• Event monitor, such as a Holter monitor
• Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE)

Your treatment plan will depend on your diagnosis and any underlying health conditions you may have. Once we have a treatment plan, you’ll undergo the procedure in one of our advanced cardiac catheterization or electrophysiology labs. These labs include all of the latest equipment and treatment technologies.

Our team provides heart rhythm treatments at Roper Hospital in downtown Charleston. We offer all types of treatments for heart rhythm conditions, including:

• Convergent ablation
• Cardiac catheter ablation
• WATCHMAN devices
• AtriClip
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), including bi-ventricular ICDs
• Implantable loop recorders
• Pacemakers, including leadless pacemakers and bi-ventricular pacemakers
• Surgical MAZE

Convergent ablation

Roper Hospital is one of only two hospitals in the state that offer Convergent ablation for treating persistent and longstanding AFib. Our team has also performed the most Convergent ablation procedures in South Carolina.

Convergent ablation combines minimally invasive cardiac surgery with an electrophysiology (ablation) procedure, which is done with a catheter. If you have AFib that doesn’t respond to other treatments, this procedure can help get the heart beating normally again.

WATCHMAN devices

Roper Hospital was the first hospital in South Carolina to implant 300 WATCHMAN devices, with most of our patients experiencing excellent outcomes.

The WATCHMAN device helps patients who have AFib that’s not caused by a heart valve problem and need an alternative treatment to blood thinners. These patients have a high risk of stroke because blood can pool and form clots in a part of the heart called the left atrial appendage. The WATCHMAN device closes off this area and prevents blood clots from escaping and getting stuck in an artery or blood vessel. With this device, patients can avoid taking blood thinners long-term and reduce the risk of stroke caused from AFib.

The heart rhythm specialists at Roper St. Francis Healthcare include electrophysiologists, which are cardiologists specially trained in heart rhythm disorders. Our team also has cardiac surgeons, advanced practitioners, nurse navigators and a specially trained team dedicated to our electrophysiology lab.

Together, our team focuses on communication, collaboration and coordination to make sure you have a positive experience that leads to the best possible outcome.