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Definition
Cardiac ablation is a procedure that can correct heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias). Ablation typically uses catheters — long, flexible tubes inserted through a vein in your groin and threaded to your heart — to correct structural problems in your heart that cause an arrhythmia.
Cardiac ablation works by scarring or destroying tissue in your heart that triggers an abnormal heart rhythm. In some cases, ablation prevents abnormal electrical signals from traveling through your heart and thus stops the arrhythmia.
Cardiac ablation is sometimes done through open-heart surgery, but it's often done using catheters, making the procedure less invasive and shortening recovery times.
- Catheter ablation. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ablation/ablation_all.html. Accessed March 10, 2011.
- Ganz LI, et al. Catheter ablation for ventricular arrhythmias. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 15, 2011.
- Cheng J, et al. Radiofrequency catheter ablation to prevent recurrent atrial fibrillation. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 15, 2011.
- Ganz LI. Catheter ablation of cardiac ablation: Overview and technical aspects. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 15, 2011.
- Ablation. American Heart Association. http://americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=6. Accessed March 15, 2011.
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