Ablation Therapy for Arrhythmias

Heart Disease: Treating Arrhythmias with Ablation

Heart Disease (Coronary Artery Disease) Slideshow

• Introduction to treating arrhythmias with ablation
• Why do I need ablation therapy?
• How should I prepare for catheter ablation?
• What can I expect during catheter ablation?
• What happens after catheter ablation?
• How should I care for the wound site?

Introduction

Ablation is used to treat abnormal heart rhythms. It can be performed both surgically and non-surgically.

Non-surgical ablation is performed in a special lab called the electrophysiology (EP) laboratory. During this non-surgical procedure a catheter is inserted into your heart and then a special machine is used to direct energy to the heart muscle. This energy either "disconnects" or "isolates" the pathway of the abnormal rhythm (depending on the type of ablation). It can also be used to disconnect the electrical pathway between the upper chambers (atria) and the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart.

For those that require heart surgery, ablation can be performed during coronary artery bypass or valve surgery.

In addition to re-establishing a normal heart rhythm in people with certain arrhythmias, ablation therapy can help control the heart rate in people with rapid arrhythmias, and prevent blood clots and strokes. The maze and surgical pulmonary vein isolation.

There are two types of surgery that can be used to treat the abnormal heart rhythm, atrial fibrillation. These procedures are often combined with other surgical therapies such as bypass surgery, valve repair, or valve replacement. They include:

• The Maze procedure. The surgeon makes small cuts in the heart to interrupt the conduction of abnormal impulses and to direct normal sinus impulses to travel to the atrioventricular node (AV node) as they normally should. When the heart heals, scar tissue forms and the abnormal electrical impulses are blocked from traveling through the heart.
• Surgical ablation. The surgeon creates controlled lesions on the heart and ultimately scar tissue to block the abnormal electrical impulses from being conducted through the heart and promote the normal conduction of impulses through the proper pathway. This procedure involves a single incision into the left atrium. One of three energy sources may be used to create the scars: radiofrequency, microwave or cryothermy (cold temperature).

The type of ablation performed depends upon the type of arrhythmia and the presence of other heart disease.