A physician-led library, written by one EP, reviewed often.

This library exists for a simple reason: patients who understand their condition do better. The internet is overflowing with information about heart rhythm disorders, much of it accurate, much of it not. The point of this library is to be the page Dr. Colombowala would want one of his own patients to read after a visit.

Every entry is written in plain English, organized around the questions patients actually ask, and grounded in the same evidence and guidelines Dr. Colombowala uses in clinic. The library covers:

• Conditions — atrial fibrillation, SVT, VT, AV block, palpitations, syncope, inherited arrhythmia syndromes, and more
• Procedures — ablations, EP study, cardioversion, lead extraction, tilt-table
• Devices — pacemakers (including leadless), ICDs (transvenous, S-ICD, EV-ICD), CRT, loop recorders, WATCHMAN and Amulet
• Medications — anticoagulants, antiarrhythmics, rate-control agents
• Lifestyle — caffeine, alcohol, exercise, sleep, weight, stress, pregnancy, home monitoring
• The handbook — a printable patient guide and device-specific handbooks (pacemaker, ICD, loop recorder)

What this library is not: a substitute for a visit. Reading a page about your arrhythmia is helpful preparation; making decisions about treatment requires a conversation about your specific situation. There is no shortcut around that part.

Every entry on this library has been written or reviewed by Dr. Colombowala. The review cycle is structured:

• Last reviewed date appears at the bottom of every entry. If a guideline changes, an entry is updated and the date is bumped.
• Quarterly review — Dr. Colombowala re-reads every entry at least four times a year. Major guidelines (HRS, ACC/AHA, ESC) drive out-of-cycle updates when they're published.
• Manufacturer references — for every device entry, we link directly to the manufacturer's official page so you can read the source if you want.
• Embedded videos — when present, they come from third-party medical channels we've vetted. Each video is labeled with its source.
• Reader corrections — if you find something that looks wrong, please tell us via the practice contact page and Dr. Colombowala will review.

Dr. Colombowala has been an invited speaker, panelist, or course director at more than 50 national and international meetings covering atrial fibrillation, catheter ablation, cardiac monitoring, stroke prevention, sudden-death prevention, and the use of artificial intelligence in cardiac care. Recent course directorships include the Octagos Digital Health Conference (Chicago, 2025), the Ignite Digital Health Conference (Santa Monica and New York), Medtronic's National ICM Summit, and multiple national Remote Monitoring symposia.

He has been a site Principal Investigator on multiple multicenter clinical trials in EP and heart failure, and has co-authored peer-reviewed publications on AI-enabled cardiac monitoring, hybrid ablation, mapping, and resynchronization therapy. The library entries reflect this hands-on, current clinical perspective.

This library is funded by Dr. Colombowala personally. Specifically:

• No advertising on these pages. No banners, no popups, no affiliate links.
• No sponsorship for the library itself. No device manufacturer, pharmaceutical company, hospital system, or healthcare network funds, sponsors, or reviews the educational content here.
• No data selling. The library does not track you across the web and does not sell or share information about your visits. Privacy-respecting Cloudflare Web Analytics counts page views in aggregate.
• No paywall. All content is free to read. No premium pages, member-only sections, or email-required content.

Industry relationships (disclosed): Dr. Colombowala serves as Chief Medical and Compliance Officer at Octagos Health, a cardiac monitoring company. He has had past or current research-investigator, advisory-board, course-director, proctoring, or speaking relationships with Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott, BMS-Pfizer, LivaNova, CVRx, AtriCure, Biotronik, Zoll, and Milestone Pharmaceuticals. None of these companies fund this library, sponsor its content, or review entries before publication. When a library entry covers a specific product where a relationship is material, that relationship is noted on the entry itself.

Manufacturer links inside device entries point to the manufacturer's official product pages so you can read primary sources. These are reference links, not affiliate links — no commission is earned on clicks or purchases.

The written content of this library is © 2026 Ilyas K. Colombowala, MD. All rights reserved. Reproduction, redistribution, or republication in any form without written permission is prohibited.

That said: linking is encouraged. If you are a clinician, educator, or program director who finds this library useful for patient handouts or trainee orientation, please link to entries directly. Patients are welcome to print individual entries for their own use.

For academic citation: Colombowala IK. [Entry title]. EP Patient Education Library. learn.colombowala.com/[path]. Updated [last_reviewed date].

For commercial reuse or redistribution permissions, please reach out via the practice contact page.

Dr. Colombowala lives in Houston with his wife and three sons. When he's not in the lab he's most likely fly fishing, behind a camera, on a ski hill, or planning the next trip somewhere with his family.