Catheter Ablation Stabilizes Heart Rhythm

A procedure for treating cardiac arrhythmia that takes less than two hours to perform offers long-lasting relief and an improved quality of life, a new study shows.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center (CVC, Ann Arbor, USA) and from San Raffaele Hospital (Milan, Italy) conducted a randomized, controlled trial using long-term automatic daily monitoring of heart rhythm to assess the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation. The study involved 146 patients, 77 of whom were randomized to receive a left atrial catheter ablation procedure known as circumferential pulmonary-vein ablation, while the remaining 69 patients were randomized to a control group.

In all, 74% of study participants who had the procedure were free of their irregular heartbeat a year afterward and did not need rhythm-regulating drugs. They reported a steep drop in the severity of symptoms, and their hearts' left upper chambers returned to normal size. No side effects were reported, although some of the patients needed a second procedure to fully treat their heart rhythm disturbance. The results of the study were published in the March 2, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

We have shown objectively, and with rigorous follow-up, that this procedure is a very good option for patients with symptomatic, chronic atrial fibrillation who otherwise may have to live with atrial fibrillation for the rest of their lives, said lead author Hakan Oral, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan and a member of the cardiovascular center team that has treated more than 2,000 atrial fibrillation patients using catheter ablation.

Catheter ablation aims to counteract the irregular electrical impulses in the heart muscle by delivering tiny bursts of intense radiofrequency waves to areas of disorganized and rapid electrical activity, generating high heat, and thereby short-circuiting the aberrant electrical impulses. The catheters are inserted through the groin and snaked through the major blood vessels into the heart and into the left atrium, where the ablation takes place.



Related Links:
University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center
San Raffaele Hospital