Clinical efficacy of CARTO-guided radiofrequency catheter ablation in treatment of atrial arrhythmia

AIM:To investigate the effectiveness, safety and electrophysiological characteristics of CARTO-guided catheter ablation in the treatment of atrial arrhythmia. METHODS: Treatments of 166 atrial arrhythmia patients in the Department of Cardiology in our hospital from July 2008 to July 2013 were analyzed retrospectively, among whom 93 cases were male and 73 cases were female, with an average age of 54±16 years. RESULTS: Among the 166 cases, 32 cases were atrial tachycardia, 26 cases of atrial flutter and 108 cases of atrial fibrillation (AF) (including 78 cases of paroxysmal AF and 30 cases of persistent AF). Ablation and follow-up results showed that ablation achieved immediate success in 162 cases (97.6%) and failed in four cases. During the follow-up of 6-60 months in the 166 cases, recurrence was found in 30 cases, including two cases of atrial flutter and two cases of atrial tachycardia. Ablation achieved success in all the cases. Recurrence was found in 24 cases of AF (including 14 cases of paroxysmal AF and ten cases of persistent AF) and ablation achieved success in eight cases (85%). No serious complications such as atrial esophageal fistula were found. CONCLUSION: CARTO-guided catheter ablation is safe and effective in the treatment of atrial arrhythmia including atrial tachycardia, atrial flutter and AF.