Catheterablatie
- Article
- 2021-02-01
Also known as cardiac catheter ablation.
Catheter ablation is a procedure that uses energy to create tiny scars in your heart tissue to prevent abnormal electrical signals from passing through your heart.
Radio frequency (RF) ablation uses high-energy locally delivered RF signals to create the scars. Cryoablation uses extremely cold temperatures to create the scars. Sometimes laser light energy is used. Catheter ablation is used to treat certain types of arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeat, that cannot be controlled with medications or if you are at high risk for ventricular fibrillation (V-fib), sudden cardiac arrest, or atrial fibrillation.
Cardiologists, or doctors who specialize in the heart, will perform catheter ablation in a hospital. You will be awake, but you will be given medicine through an intravenous (IV) line in your arm to relax you during the procedure. Machines measure the activity of your heart. All types of ablation require cardiac catheterization to place flexible tubing, or catheters, in your heart to create the scars. Your doctor will clean and numb an area on your arm, groin, thigh, or neck before making a small hole in a blood vessel. Your doctor will guide a series of catheters through the blood vessel to the correct place in your heart. An X-ray imaging method called fluoroscopy shows your doctor the catheters as they are inserted into your heart. Some catheters have wire electrodes that record and locate the source of your abnormal heartbeats. Your doctor will direct the tip of a special catheter to the small area of the heart tissue. A machine sends RF waves, extremely cold temperatures, or laser light through the catheter to create a scar called the ablation line. This scar forms a barrier that prevents electrical impulses from crossing between the damaged heart tissue and the surrounding healthy tissue. This will prevent abnormal electrical signals from traveling to the rest of the heart and causing arrhythmias.
After catheter ablation, your doctor will remove the catheters and close and bandage the opening in your arm, groin, or neck. You may bruise and experience pain where the catheters are inserted. You will stay in the hospital for a few hours or overnight. During this time, your heart rate and blood pressure will be monitored. Your movement will be limited to prevent bleeding in the area where the catheters are inserted. You will need to be driven home after the procedure because of the medicines or anesthetics you have received.
Catheter ablation carries some risks, including bleeding, infection, damage to blood vessels, heart damage, arrhythmias, and blood clots. There may also be a very small risk of cancer from radiation used during catheter ablation. Discuss with your doctor and the technicians conducting the test whether you are or might be pregnant. If the procedure is not urgent, you may have to wait until after your pregnancy. If it is urgent, the technicians will take extra steps to protect your baby during catheter ablation.
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