[Clinical application of radiofrequency ablation]

I. Radiofrequency ablation of atrioventricular accessory pathway in patients with WPW syndrome: Seventeen accessory pathways in 15 patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) were ablated with radiofrequency current. There were 15 accessory pathways located on the left side of the heart (12 left free wall, 1 posterioseptal, 1 posteriolateral and 1 midseptal) and 2 pathways on the right side (1 right free wall, 1 anterioseptal). 16 accessory pathways (94.1%) in 14 patients were permanently abolished. Plasma CK-Mb, SGOT and LDH increased moderately in 7 cases (46.7%) and decreased to normal level in 3-4 days.

catheter ablation of accessory pathways with radiofrequency current is a safe and effective therapeutic method for patients with refractory tachycardias mediated by these pathways. II. Radiofrequency ablation of slow pathways to cure AV nodal reentrant tachycardia: Radiofrequency energy was used to selectively ablate the slow pathways in 8 patients with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. The slow pathways in all 8 cases were ablated successfully and no episodes of tachycardia could be induced. The A-H, H-V interval and P-R interval of ECG did not change significantly. The Wenckebach points of atrioventricular node remained unchanged. The effective refractory periods of the fast pathways were shortened in 3 and prolonged in 5 cases after the procedure. There were no severe complications. No tachycardia recurred during the follow-up period between 2 weeks and 7 months.