Your doctor wants you to have a cardioversion. This process uses a small amount of electrical energy to make your irregular or rapid heartbeat regular and slower. The energy is delivered to your heart through special patches placed on your chest.

The cardioversion is done in the cardiovascular lab. You may be there for 30 to 60 minutes.

• Do not eat or drink anything for eight hours before the exam.
• You will be asked to sign a consent form.

• You will be hooked up to machines that will show your blood pressure, heart rhythm and oxygen supply.
• You will have patches on your chest. These will hook you up to a cardioverter/defibrillator. This will supply the electrical energy to your heart.
• A nurse will start an intravenous (IV) injection if you do not already have one. Through the IV you will get a special medicine that will make you sleepy.
• Your doctor and nurse will start the cardioversion after you are asleep.
• The cardioversion takes only a few minutes.

• The doctor and nurse will monitor you.
• You will wake up within 15 minutes. You may feel drowsy for about 60 minutes.
• You may feel tenderness in your chest. This will go away in a few days.
• The patches may leave your skin the color of a sunburn. If you feel discomfort, your doctor can prescribe a medicine for you.

Other procedures for this sub-specialty

• Electrophysiology Study and Catheter Ablation 
• Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator 
• Pacemaker & ICD Follow-up/Evaluation 
• Pacemaker Implantation 
• Stereotaxis
• Tilt Table Testing