|
Why is the doctor performing this procedure?
To treat an abnormal heart rhythm by ablating or destroying an area of the heart that is responsible either for initiating an abnormal impulse, or conducting the impulse, within the heart.
What is Catheter Ablation?
The EP study and ablation procedure are very similar. In fact, your doctor may decide to do both procedures, one after the other, while you are in the EP lab. This possibility will be discussed with you prior to the study.
What is the procedure?
Catheter ablation is a non-surgical technique that is used to destroy heart muscle cells responsible for an arrhythmia. The procedure can be quite lengthy. An ablation procedure can last for 2-4 hours. This procedure is the preferred treatment for many types of arrhythmias.
During catheter ablation, a doctor guides a catheter through a vein in your leg to your heart. The catheter is positioned in the area of your heart responsible for the arrhythmia.
The catheter tip may have anywhere from two to ten electrode pairs that allow for the measurement of electrical force, as well as the delivery of radio frequency energy. In a typical diagnostic electrophysiology study, one to four catheters are introduced into the venous system of the circulation, and advanced under x-ray monitoring to various locations within the heart. Electric impulses are measured with the patient in the native, or natural, heart rhythm. By introducing electrical impulses at various locations within the heart, different cardiac rhythm abnormalities may be induced. A large variety of these rhythm problems utilize an abnormal electrical pathway. This abnormal pathway may frequently be abolished by applying radio frequency energy to the specific area of the heart where the pathway lies.
The arrhythmias that are currently treated with catheter ablation include A-V Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia, A-V Reciprocating Tachycardia, tachycardias related to Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW), focal atrial tachycardias, and some ventricular tachycardias. One of the newest indications for radio frequency ablation is the treatment of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation.
Where is the procedure performed?
In the Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratories (EP Lab) at our partner hospitals.
How long does this procedure take?
Catheter ablation may take anywhere from one to three hours.
|
