Dr. Macy Smith is a Top Cardiac Electrophysiologist in Birmingham, Alabama specializing in
arrhythmia. Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart irregularity or cardiac arrhythmia that Dr.
Smith treats. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and Heart Rhythm Society
(FHRS), one of the highest membership levels attainable.
Earning the right to include FACC and FHRS designation among your credentials lets your colleagues
and patients know that you have been conferred to the highest credential by your peers. It shows
that you are committed to only the highest standards of Cardiovascular Care and Cardiac
Electrophysiology.
Dr. Smith is the Director of the Electrophysiology Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular
Associates.
Dr. Macy Smith is a superbly trained and talented Cardiac Electrophysiologist. He gained his undergraduate degree in Science and his MD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he was also the Cardiac Rhythm Management Lab Research Associate, graduating in 3 years with a 4.0 GPA. Dr. Smith then went on to Ohio State University for his Fellowship in Cardiovascular Diseases and advanced training in Cardiac Electrophysiology. Dr. Smith was Chief Cardiology Fellow at Ohio State and received numerous honors and awards throughout his career.
Dr. Smith holds membership in many organizations including the American College of Cardiology, the Heart Rhythm Society, and the American Society of Echocardiography. He is widely published in scientific journals regarding cardiac rhythm issues and treatments and has also presented on cardiac arrhythmias at multiple symposiums and Grand Round settings, including the Heart Rhythm Society’s Annual Scientific Sessions Meeting.
In addition to his focus on general and diagnostic electrophysiology, he is skilled in ablation procedures for Atrial and Ventricular arrhythmias. Dr. Smith sees patients at the Colonnade office of CVA and performs procedures at both the Brookwood Baptist Medical Center and Grandview Medical Center.
Products And Services
Arrhythmia
An arrhythmia (ah-RITH-me-ah) is a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or with an irregular rhythm.
A heartbeat that is too fast is called tachycardia (TAK-ih-KAR-de-ah). A heartbeat that is too slow is called bradycardia (bray-de-KAR-de-ah).
Most arrhythmias are harmless, but some can be serious or even life threatening. During an arrhythmia, the heart may not be able to pump enough blood to the body. Lack of blood flow can damage the brain, heart, and other organs.
In the United States, more than 850,000 people are hospitalized for an arrhythmia each year.
Electrical Disorders of the Heart
Some abnormal heart rhythms can happen without the person knowing it, while some may cause the feeling of the heart racing, lightheadedness, or dizziness. At some point in life, many adults have had short-lived heart rhythm changes that are not serious. Certain heart rhythms, especially those that last long enough to affect the heart’s function, can be serious or even deadly.
Atrial Fibrilation
Atrial fibrillation, often referred to as "afib", is an irregular heartbeat, a rapid heartbeat, or a quivering of the upper chambers of the heart, called the atria. Atrial fibrillation is due to a malfunction in the heart's electrical system, and is the most common heart irregularity, or cardiac arrhythmia.
Atrial Flutter
Typical atrial flutter results from a single “short-circuit” in the right atrium. This short-circuit causes the atria to beat at about 300 beats per minute while the lower chamber of the heart (the ventricles) beat at a slower rate (often 75 to 150 beats per minute).
Like atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter occurs most commonly in elderly patients and those with other types of heart disease. It also can cause a wide variety of symptoms and increase the risk of developing a stroke. Treatment options include various types of medications as well as catheter ablation, which cures the problem in most patients. Less commonly, a patient may have atypical atrial flutter which results from a short circuit in an unusual location like the left atrium or near scar tissue
Atrial Tachycardia
Atrial tachycardia (AT) is a condition that causes your heart to beat 100 to 300 times each minute. A normal heart rate at rest is 60 to 80 beats each minute. AT develops because of problems with your heart's electrical system. Your atria (top chambers) may send electrical signals that increase your heart rate, or the pathway of the electrical signal may be blocked. Your heart keeps sending signals to try to get past the block.
Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is a type of abnormal heart beat. It is the most common type of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), accounting for about 60% of all SVTs.
AVNRT is known as a reentrant tachycardia. As with all reentrant SVT, patients with AVNRT have been born with an extra electrical connection in the heart. In AVNRT, the extra connection - and the entire reentrant circuit that produces the arrhythmia - is located within the tiny atrioventricular node (AV node).
Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW)
Some individuals are born with an extra electrical pathway in the heart, one that creates an abnormal electrical connection between atria and the ventricles. This extra electrical pathway can create a characteristic pattern on the electrocardiogram, and often produces the conditions necessary for developing supraventricular tachycardia.
Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVC's)
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are extra, abnormal heartbeats that begin in one of your heart's two lower pumping chambers (ventricles). These extra beats disrupt your regular heart rhythm, sometimes causing you to feel a flip-flop or skipped beat in your chest.
Ventricular Tacycardia (V-Tach)
The ventricles are the heart's two lower chambers. They fill with blood from the top chambers of the heart (atria) and send it to the lungs and through the aorta to be circulated throughout the body. Tachycardia is a heart rate of greater than 100 beats per minute. A normal heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute at rest. Ventricular tachycardia is a regular, faster-than-normal heart rate that begins in the heart's lower chambers. In most patients with ventricular tachycardia the rate is in the range of 170 beats per minute or more.
