© 2000 by European Society of Cardiology
CASE REPORT AND LITERATURE REVIEW
Autonomic effects of radiofrequency catheter ablation
Cardiac Arrhythmia Unit, University Hospital of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland
Radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation has become the treatment of choice for a variety of supraventricular tachycardias. Autonomic dysfunction may occur during application of RF current; these abnormalities resolve quickly when current delivery is terminated. We present a case of sinus node arrest and AV block in a 69-year-old woman induced by RF catheter ablation of an AV nodal slow pathway. The proposed mechanisms are a Bezold-Jarisch-like phenomenon or paradoxical activation of cardiac C fibres by direct neural sympathetic stimulation or RF-induced myocardial injury. Based on a review of previously published reports, autonomic effects of RF ablation are discussed.
Key Words: Radiofrequency ablation, AV nodal reentrant tachycardia, slow pathway, asystole, autonomic dysfunction
Correspondence: Firat Duru, MD, Cardiac Arrhythmia Unit, University Hospital of Zurich, Rämistr. 100, Zurich, 8091 Switzerland.
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