December 03, 2025

Treating Atrial Fibrillation at Baptist Health Paducah

Atrial fibrillation is a common rhythm disturbance that originates in the top chambers of the heart. It is hallmarked by a sort of electrical storm that sends the heart into, sort of electrical override. The top chambers of the heart don't beat effectively.

They begin to quiver and patients just feel like they have low energy and they cannot do the things that they once could do.

I would have an extremely high heart rate. We stay for a day or two and just feel really fatigued and tired every day, very low energy. I was referred to Doctor. Elrod at Baptist Health Paducah. He gave me several options. One was a medicine I could take and we kind of went through about how I'd have to do it every single day the rest of my life. Or he said I'd be a great candidate for the ablation, and that's the route that we went with.

An ablation for atrial fibrillation is a procedure which is often performed as an outpatient here at Baptist. Three IVs are placed in the leg at the top of the femoral vein in the groin area. Through that we send catheters into the heart and we create a three d map. We find areas of irritability where atrial fibrillation originates and we use electrical modalities to terminate that.

So now after the procedure, I have a lot more energy. I feel a lot better every day. I've got a five month old little boy and a nine year old little boy. To know that my health is back to where it needs to be and I'm there for my family means a lot to me.

Treating Atrial Fibrillation at Baptist Health Paducah Healthtalk Transcript

Jacob Elrod, MD, Electrophysiology
Baptist Health Paducah

Jacob Elrod, MD:

Atrial fibrillation is a common rhythm disturbance that originates in the top chambers of the heart. It is hallmarked by an electrical storm that sends the heart into electrical override. The top chambers of the heart don't beat effectively; they begin to quiver, and patients feel like they have low energy, and they cannot do the things that they once could do.

T.J. Grooms:

I would have an extremely high heart rate that would stay for a day or two, and I [would] feel really fatigued and tired every day with very low energy. I was referred to Dr. Elrod at Baptist Health Paducah. He gave me several options; one was a medicine I could take, and we went through how I'd have to [take] it every single day the rest of my life. Or, he said I'd be a great candidate for ablation, and that's the route we went with.

Jacob Elrod, MD:

An ablation for atrial fibrillation is a procedure often performed as an outpatient at Baptist. Three IVs are placed in the leg at the top of the common femoral vein in the groin area. Through that, we sink catheters into the heart and create a 3D map. We find areas of irritability where atrial fibrillation originates and use electrical modalities to terminate it.

T.J. Grooms:

Now, after the procedure, I have a lot more energy, and I feel a lot better every day. I've got a 5-month-old boy and a 9-year-old boy, and to know that my health is back to where it needs to be and I'm there for my family means a lot to me.

Learn More About Heart Care at Baptist Health

If you have concerns about a heart murmur or your overall heart health, call 1.877.720.0817, visit our provider directory to find a Baptist Health cardiology provider, or take a Health Risk Assessment to better understand your heart health risks.