Catheter ablation
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
|
WikiDoc Resources for Catheter ablation | |
|
Articles | |
|---|---|
|
Most recent articles on Catheter ablation Most cited articles on Catheter ablation | |
|
Media | |
|
Powerpoint slides on Catheter ablation | |
|
Evidence Based Medicine | |
|
Cochrane Collaboration on Catheter ablation | |
|
Clinical Trials | |
|
Ongoing Trials on Catheter ablation at Clinical Trials.gov Trial results on Catheter ablation Clinical Trials on Catheter ablation at Google
| |
|
Guidelines / Policies / Govt | |
|
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Catheter ablation NICE Guidance on Catheter ablation
| |
|
Books | |
|
News | |
|
Commentary | |
|
Definitions | |
|
Patient Resources / Community | |
|
Patient resources on Catheter ablation Discussion groups on Catheter ablation Patient Handouts on Catheter ablation Directions to Hospitals Treating Catheter ablation Risk calculators and risk factors for Catheter ablation
| |
|
Healthcare Provider Resources | |
|
Causes & Risk Factors for Catheter ablation | |
|
Continuing Medical Education (CME) | |
|
International | |
|
| |
|
Business | |
|
Experimental / Informatics | |
| Cardiology Network |
 Discuss Catheter ablation further in the WikiDoc Cardiology Network |
| Adult Congenital |
|---|
| Biomarkers |
| Cardiac Rehabilitation |
| Congestive Heart Failure |
| CT Angiography |
| Echocardiography |
| Electrophysiology |
| Cardiology General |
| Genetics |
| Health Economics |
| Hypertension |
| Interventional Cardiology |
| MRI |
| Nuclear Cardiology |
| Peripheral Arterial Disease |
| Prevention |
| Public Policy |
| Pulmonary Embolism |
| Stable Angina |
| Valvular Heart Disease |
| Vascular Medicine |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753
Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [2] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.
Catheter ablation is an invasive procedure used to remove a faulty electrical pathway from the hearts of those who are prone to developing cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardias (SVT) and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.
It involves advancing several flexible catheters into the patient's blood vessels, usually either in the femoral vein, internal jugular vein, or subclavian vein. The catheters are then advanced towards the heart and high-frequency electrical impulses are used to induce the arrhythmia, and then ablate (destroy) the abnormal tissue that is causing it.
Catheter ablation is usually performed by an electrophysiologist (a specially trained cardiologist) in a cath lab.
Catheter ablation of most arrhythmias has an extremely high success rate. For SVT, WPW, and atrial flutter, the success rates are 95-98%. For automatic atrial tachycardias, the success rates are 70-90%. The potential complications include bleeding, blood clots, pericardial tamponade, and heart block, but these risks are very low, ranging from 0.5-3%.
For atrial fibrillation, several experienced teams of electrophysiologists in US heart centers claim they can achieve up to a 75% success rate. However one recent study claims that the success rates are in fact much lower. Single procedure success rates have been published in this study at 28%. Often, several procedures are needed to raise the success rate to the 70-80% range.1 One reason for this may be that once the heart has undergone atrial remodelling as in the case of chronic atrial fibrillation sufferers, largely 50 and older it is much more difficult to correct the 'bad' electrical pathways. Young AF sufferers with paroxymal, or intermitent AF, therefore have an increased chance of success with an ablation since their heart has not undergone atrial remodelling yet.
Risks of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation include, but are not limited to: stroke, esophageal injury and death.
Amongst others, Tony Blair (ex prime-minister of Britain) has undergone a successful catheter ablation.
1 Cheema, et al. Long-term single procedure efficacy of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation. J Interv Card Electrophysiol (2006) 15:145-155.
External links
de:Elektrophysiologische Untersuchung
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
