Cardioversion | Community Health

Cardioversion is a medical procedure that converts an abnormally fast heart rate or other cardiac arrhythmia to a normal rhythm using electricity or drugs. With a success rate of over 90% for certain types of arrhythmias, cardioversion has become a crucial treatment option for patients with atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and ventricular tachycardia. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), over 2 million people in the United States undergo cardioversion each year. The procedure involves synchronized electrical cardioversion, which uses a therapeutic dose of electric current to the heart at a specific moment in the cardiac cycle, or pharmacological cardioversion, which uses antiarrhythmia medication instead of an electrical shock. As noted by the Mayo Clinic, cardioversion is often performed in a hospital setting, and patients typically require monitoring for several hours after the procedure to ensure the heart rhythm remains stable.