Intraoperative radiofrequency ablation of the atrium: effectiveness for treatment of supraventricular tachycardia in congenital heart surgery (original) (raw)

Background. Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is common in surgical patients with congenital heart disease. Ablation and maze operations have been shown to be effective in treating SVT, but these procedures can be complex and time-consuming because of variable anatomy and a thickened right atrium. To simplify and shorten these procedures, we used a long, flexible radiofrequency probe capable of producing long ablation lines quickly and effectively. We report the initial results with this procedure.