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Cardiac Ablative Technologies

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Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology, and Devices

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Abstract

Device technologies to treat cardiac arrhythmia continue to advance at a rapid pace; this is a highly competitive field with numerous corporate powerhouses playing significant roles. The primary goals for treatment of arrhythmia are to: (1) alleviate symptoms and improve an individual’s quality of life; (2) prolong the patient’s life by preventing complications such as ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, syncope, and/or stroke; and (3) reduce an individual’s dependency on pharmacologic therapies that often carry significant side effects. Pharmacologic treatment has been the mainstay for management of most cardiac arrhythmias, although in recent years implantable devices and ablation have become increasingly more important. In this chapter we review several ablation technologies that are in current use as well as others that are being developed. This review contains descriptions of: (1) various energy sources; (2) the mechanisms of action for lesion formation; (3) required power sources; (4) the variety of catheters that can be used to apply these therapies; (5) potential treatment complications; and (6) the recent sensor technologies that are being developed to improve therapeutic efficacy and/or minimize complications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 S. Wood St., MC 15, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Boaz Avitall MD, PhD, FACC, FHRS & Arthur Kalinski BS

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  1. Boaz Avitall MD, PhD, FACC, FHRS
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  2. Arthur Kalinski BS
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Correspondence to Boaz Avitall MD, PhD, FACC, FHRS .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. B172 Mayo, MMC 195, University of Minnesota Department of Surgery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Paul A. Iaizzo

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Avitall, B., Kalinski, A. (2015). Cardiac Ablative Technologies. In: Iaizzo, P. (eds) Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology, and Devices. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19464-6_29

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