Initial outcome following invasive cardiac electrophysiologic studies and radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation

BACKGROUND: Cardiac electrophysiologic study and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have become an established mode of treatment for patients with refractory arrhythmias. These procedures are carried out regularly at the cardiac catheterization laboratory of Madras Medical Mission India. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate our experience with cardiac electrophysiologic studies (EPS) and RFA catheter of atrial fibrillation (AF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study carried out in the Cardiac Electrophysiology Department of the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Madras Medical Mission, India. All cases diagnosed to have AF following cardiac EPS between January 2010 and April 2014 was selected for the study. The records, which were obtained from the Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinical Research Office of Madras Medical Mission, were reviewed. Forty-nine cases were chosen for analysis, using SPSS statistical software version 15. RESULTS: There were 49 patients, 23 males and 26 females. The mean age was 57.53 years. Commonly associated diseases were diabetes mellitus 8 (16.3%), hypertension 18 (36.7%), and coronary heart disease 14 (28.5%). The ventricular rate was rapid most cases (91.2%). AF was diagnosed as being paroxysmal in 40 (81.6%), persistent in 5 (10.2%), chronic in 3 (6.1%), and lone in 1 (2.0%). Ablation was carried out in 28 (57.1%), the success rate being 90% for pulmonary vein isolation, and 90.9% for atrioventricular node ablation. Complication rate was 2.04%. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of AF by RFA is highly effective and safe.