ABSTRACT
Treatment of cardiac arrhythmias by catheter directed ablation therapy is a rapidly developing field in cardiology. Originally, in the early 1980’s this involved the delivery of high- energy direct current shocks to cardiac tissue, whereas now discreet therapy is delivered using radiofrequency energy to heat or refrigerant to cool the cardiac tissue. Regardless of the method, the principle of catheter directed ablation therapy remains the same, which is to create electrically inert lesions within the cardiac tissue either to destroy or electrically isolate arrhythmogenic substrates within the myocardium, whilst avoiding damage of the surrounding healthy tissue. The advent of modern technology has allowed for more discreet lesions to be created, as well as higher imaging and electrical mapping resolution, greatly improving the safety and efficacy of this therapy. This chapter explains how catheter directed ablation therapy is used in treating arrhythmias such as re-entry circuits and atrial fibrillation, including risks, complications and instrumentation used.
