Tachycardia or rapid heartbeats are caused by abnormalities or disruptions in the heart’s electrical pathways. Cardiac Ablation helps treat and permanently eliminate such abnormalities.
Cardiac ablation involves the insertion of catheters into a blood vessel through the groin or neck area. An electrophysiology study and the electrodes at the tip of the catheters help doctors to pinpoint the location of electrical disruption. Once the precise location is identified, the “short-circuit” is either destroyed or blocked by passing energy through the catheters. This destroys a small amount of tissue at the damaged site. The energy may be either hot (radiofrequency energy), which cauterizes the tissue, or extremely cold, which freezes or “cryoablates” it.
Since Radio Frequency (RF) energy is most commonly used for ablation, the procedure is called a RF Ablation.
Rather than pain, patients only feel a brief discomfort during the procedure. The patient needs to lie still for four to six hours post the catheter incision for the incision to begin healing properly.
Cardiac ablation is very effective and is successful in more than 90 percent of patients undergoing the treatment. It also eliminates the need for an open-heart surgery or long-term medication. However, in a few cases, repeated ablation procedures may be required.
