The electrophysiologic study
(EPS) is an invasive procedure that involves the placement of multipolar catheter
electrodes at various intracardiac sites.
Electrode
catheters are routinely placed in the right atrium, across the tricuspid valve
annulus in the area of the atrioventricular (AV)
node and His bundle (a special part of the conduction system), the right
ventricle, the coronary sinus and sometimes the left ventricle.
The
general purposes of EPS are to characterize the electrophysiologic
properties of the conduction system, induce and analyze the mechanism of
arrhythmias, and evaluate the effects of therapeutic interventions.
EPS is
routinely used in the clinical management of patients who have supraventricular and
ventricular arrhythmias.
