Arrhythmia Catheter Ablation
Key Points: Arrhythmia Catheter Ablation
What is a cardiac arrhythmia?
A cardiac arrhythmia, also called dysrhythmia, is an irregular or abnormal heart rhythm.
What is catheter ablation?
Catheter ablation is a type of treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. During ablation, a doctor inserts a catheter (thin, flexible tube) into the heart. A special machine delivers energy through the catheter to tiny areas of the heart muscle that cause the abnormal heart rhythm. This energy “disconnects” the pathway of the abnormal rhythm.
The ablation procedure also can be used to disconnect the electrical pathway between the upper chambers (atria) and lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart. The type of ablation performed depends upon the type of arrhythmia.
What types of rhythms are treated with this procedure?
Normally, the heart’s impulses travel down an electrical pathway through the heart. The atria and ventricles work together, alternately contracting and relaxing to pump blood through the heart. The electrical system of the heart is the power source that makes this possible. Each electrical impulse causes the heart to beat.
Catheter ablation can be used to treat:
AV Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia (AVNRT): an extra pathway lies in or near the AV node, which causes the impulses to move in a circle and reenter areas it already passed through.
Accessory Pathway: Extra pathways can exist from birth that connect the atrium and ventricles. The extra pathway causes signals to travel back to the atrium, making it beat faster.
Atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter: Extra signals originating in different parts of the atrium cause the atria to beat rapidly (atrial flutter) or quiver (atrial fibrillation).
Ventricular tachycardia: a rapid, potentially life-threatening rhythm originating from impulses in the lower chambers of the heart. The rapid rate prevents the heart from filling adequately with blood so that less blood is able to circulate through the body.