Introduction
Ablation therapy with heat or cold energy creates tiny scars in the heart, blocking irregular electric signals and restoring the typical heartbeat. This procedure is used to correct heart rhythm problems known as arrhythmias. This ablation therapy usually uses thin, flexible tubes called catheters inserted through the arteries or veins. Catheters can be put into the blood vessels in the groin, shoulder, or neck. The catheter’s tip will have a sensor that will send electrical impulses and record the heart's electrical activity. This information can pinpoint the source of arrhythmia and determine where the ablations must be performed.
Who Needs Ablation Treatment?
Ablation is used to treat cardiac disorders and improve the quality of life. Ablation therapy will preserve good tissue and surgical risks are reduced. Ablation is a procedure that can be used to treat heart arrhythmia, to control heavy bleeding during menstruation, and to cure tumors in the kidneys, liver, and other organs.
What Are the Types of Ablation Therapy for Arrhythmias?
The types of ablation therapy for arrhythmias are:
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Atrial Flutter Ablation: This procedure creates scar tissue in the heart's upper chamber and blocks the electrical signals that will cause a fluttering heartbeat. This ablation aims to stop the electric signals and restore a typical heart rhythm.
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AV Node Ablation: This will treat irregularly fast and disorganized heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, by using heat energy, destroying small amounts of tissue between the upper and lower heart chambers.
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Pulmonary Vein Isolation: It treats irregular heart rhythms using heat or cold energy, creating tiny scars in the heart to block irregular electric signals and restore a regular heartbeat.
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Supraventricular Tachycardia Ablation: This ablation uses heat or cold energy, creating tiny scars in the heart to block faulty electric signals and restore the heart rhythm.
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Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation: In the ablation procedure, heat energy to cold energy is used to create tiny cardiac scars, which will block faulty signals that cause a rapid, erratic heartbeat.
What Are the Different Methods of Ablation?
The different methods of ablation are:
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Radiofrequency Ablation: A Transvenous catheter is used, which supplies low-voltage, high-frequency electric radiofrequency energy. This energy will heat and necrosis an area less than one centimeter in diameter and up to one centimeter deep.
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Cryoablation: Tissue is destructed by tissue freezing, and other delivery systems have been developed for intraoperative use.
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Laser Energy: Transvenous catheters deliver the laser energy and ablate the target area.
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Pulsed Electric Field Ablation: High voltages are used, and short-duration electrical impulses kill cardiac myocytes in a non-thermal method.
Why Is Ablation Therapy Done?
Ablation therapy for arrhythmias is done to correct heart rhythm problems. When there is heart heartbeat, the electric signals that will cause the heart to contract must follow a specific pathway through the heart. There can be a triggering of irregular heartbeat when there is any disruption in the signaling pathway. Ablation therapy for arrhythmias can be one of the first treatments that will depend on the type of heart rhythm problems. This procedure is also done when other medications or treatments don’t work.
Cardiac ablation may be recommended when medications to treat arrhythmias are of not successful, the presence of side effects due to medications used to treat arrhythmias, have certain types of arrhythmias such as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and supraventricular tachycardia that responds well to ablation, and there are high-risk complications such as sudden cardiac arrest.
How Is Ablation Therapy for Arrhythmias Done?
Ablation therapy for arrhythmias is done in the hospital, and the doctor will insert intravenous medication into the forearm or hand, which is known as sedation, that will help the patient to relax. Depending upon the specific arrhythmia and other health conditions, the required amount of sedation is given. The healthcare provider inserts a catheter through the blood vessel into the heart, using more than one catheter. The catheter is inserted through the blood vessel into the regions such as the groin, neck, or shoulder. For the blood vessels to show more clearly in the X-rays, dye may be injected through the catheter. The catheter tip will have sensors that send electrical impulses and record the heart’s electricity. The healthcare provider uses this information to identify the area causing the arrhythmia and accordingly decides where to apply the ablation. This part of the study is known as the electrophysiology study.
To create scars in the heart and block irregular heart rhythms, any of the following ablation techniques is used as heat, radiofrequency energy, or extreme cold, cryoablation. There might be minor discomfort when the catheter is moved into the heart. It is essential to inform the healthcare provider of severe pain or shortness of breath.
What Happens After Ablation Therapy?
The ablation therapy for arrhythmias usually takes three to six hours to complete, but it might vary based on the type of arrhythmia. There might be soreness, which should last for more than a week. Within a few days after the therapy, most of the individuals return to their daily activities. Heavy lifting should be avoided for a week. There is an improvement in the quality of life in most individuals. Sometimes, irregular heartbeat might return, and in this case, the procedure is repeated, or other treatments are considered.
What Are the Possible Risk Factors from This Ablation Therapy?
The possible risk factors from ablation therapy for arrhythmias are:
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Damage of blood vessels.
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Bleeding or infection from where the catheter was inserted.
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Worsening arrhythmia.
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Heart valve damage.
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Heart rate is slow and might require a pacemaker to correct.
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The blood clot that is present in the lungs or legs.
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Heart attack or stroke.
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Kidney damage due to the contrast used during the procedure.
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Veins are narrowed and carry blood between the lungs and heart.
Conclusion
Ablation therapy is one of the treatment options when medications do not destroy the small area in the heart tissue responsible for rapid or irregular heartbeats. It uses radiofrequency energy similar to microwave heat.
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